Catherine Mansfield died peacefully on Jan. 28. She was 89 years old and had been in declining health for several years.
Born in Connecticut, Catherine—Cathy to her many friends—grew up in New Britain, attending the Mooreland Hill School with her siblings before going to Kenwood Academy in Albany, N.Y.
She graduated from Manhattanville College in 1947. Cathy moved to Manhattan shortly after college to pursue a career in advertising. She was one of the first women to carve out a career in the competitive market of radio advertising and sales. She worked for NBC early on and then for CBS for many years, retiring in 1985.
Cathy had a wonderful life. She spent summers on Martha’s Vineyard in Harthaven and later in Chilmark where she built a small house on the edge of Abel’s Hill. She greatly enjoyed meeting new people, spending time with family and friends, and traveling. She met Richard (Dick) Mansfield through mutual friends and they were married in 1967. She and Dick took trips to Ireland, England and Europe. They divided their time between Manhattan, Chilmark and Florida, entertaining their many friends and acquaintances wherever they went.
Cathy was predeceased by her husband, Richard Mansfield, and her brother, William Coholan. She is survived by her sister, Dorothy Grandfield, and brother Mark Coholan; by her nieces and nephews, Dorsey, Michael, and Peter Grandfield, Mark Grandfield and his wife Tova Ferro, and William Coholan and Lesley Stewart; and by her great-nieces, Katharine Grandfield, Ava Grandfield, Lillian Geary and Alexandra Stewart.
A funeral mass will be held at Sacred Heart Church in Vineyard Haven on Friday, June 12 followed by interment at the Abel’s Hill Cemetery in Chilmark. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of choice.
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