Catherine Baker, of Falmouth, died peacefully, March 8, at JML, from complications of chronic pulmonary disease, at 86 years young.

Better known as “Kitty,” she was born June 20, 1924, in Norristown, Pa.

As an Army brat, she moved here with her family in 1940 and began a lifelong love affair with Falmouth. She refused to move from Falmouth, even when her father was reassigned off Cape, and graduated from Lawrence High School in 1941. Kitty married Sumner Baker on Nov. 23, 1947, and adopted three children.

She was one of the founders of the Falmouth Theater Guild. When she saw the need for a hospital in Falmouth, she immediately became involved in the Falmouth Hospital Capital Campaign. She was a member of St. Barnabas Memorial Church and the Falmouth Junior Outlook Club. She was also a board member of the Falmouth Historical Society, and she had a strong devotion to the Falmouth Fireworks Committee.

In 1962 she began work as a journalist at the Cape Cod Times, covering the theatrical side of Falmouth. She began her column, The Chatterbox, to highlight Falmouth and its many individuals and activities, and it was used as the fulcrum for a life of giving back to the community she had come to love. She also worked at the local radio station, WCIB, for many years and performed several marriages as a justice-of-the-peace. She also read for the deaf at the Audible Local Ledger. Kitty went door to door to raise money for the Falmouth Hospital and worked with the Falmouth Free Clinic. She was also involved with the Heart Fund Auction, the MSPCC, and loved the Falmouth Fireworks and Christmas Parade. Her longtime association with the Falmouth Theater Guild encouraged her to convince Dewitt Ter Heun, owner of the Theater Building, to lease the space to the guild in the winter for their use. She recognized the need for an outlet for the arts on a year-round basis, and as a past president of the Theater Guild, she directed, produced and acted in many of its productions. Her contributions to the guild were recognized in 1990, when she received the Community Theater Lifetime Achievement Award, given by the Association for Community Theater Excellence. She was one of a select group awarded a Lifetime Membership in the Theater Guild. In 1997, she was roasted to benefit the Falmouth Fireworks; in 1998, she was chosen for the Falmouth Citizen of the Year Award; in 2004, she was chosen as a Woman of Achievement, by the Falmouth Business and Professional Women Organization; and in 2008, she was chosen by the Falmouth Historical Society to receive their Heritage Award.

Kitty had a zest for life, she loved to cook for family and friends, going to the beach, going to Sarasota in the winter, and hanging out at her favorite Friday night haunt, the Coonamessett.

She is survived by her daughter, Shelley Baker-Vance, and her oldest son, Jeffrey Scott Baker; three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; two sisters, Ruth Johnson and Sally Oliver, and her sister in law, Betty Baker. She was predeceased by her former husband; her youngest son, Timothy Daniel Baker, who died of cancer in 2005; her brother in laws, Harold and Richard Baker; and her longtime friend, Kathleen Letendre.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. tonight, Friday, March 18 at the Chapman Cole and Gleason Funeral Home, 475 Main street, Falmouth Center. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 91 Main street in Falmouth. Interment will follow in Oak Grove Cemetery, on Jones Road in Falmouth.

For online guestbook and directions, please visit ccgfuneralhome.com.