1922 – 2014

AUGUSTA — Kathleen M. Corey died at MaineGeneral Medical Center on Thursday, Nov. 13. She was 92.

“Kaye” was born in Gardiner, the daughter of Stephen D. Monaghan and Maria Nevills. She attended Gardiner schools, graduating from high school in 1939. She received her undergraduate degree from Colby College in 1943. In 1946, she received her master’s degree in social work from Boston University.

Kaye married Charles N. Corey (former football and lacrosse coach at Bowdoin College and the Hotchkiss School) in August 1947. This union offered her a fascinating and ever-changing life as she accompanied her husband to Maine Central Institute, Colby, Bowdoin, Williams College and eventually Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., where he taught, coached and was the athletic director. All of these schools were different, the environments different, the locations different, the roles Kaye had to play as a wife were different and the agencies where she worked as a social worker were different. She found this to be challenging and exhilarating.

Kaye worked in varying capacities as a social worker during her career. When she received her MSW from BU and returned to Maine in 1947, she was one of a handful of professionals in the state who had an MSW. At that time, she worked as a child protective worker out of Lewiston. In Connecticut, she worked in adoption and with unwed mothers based in Torrington. When she returned to Maine in 1980, she worked at Full Circle in Brunswick as a children’s therapist.

She always worked part time, which enabled her to attend all of her husband’s football and lacrosse games, and the athletic contests of her two children who competed in fall, winter and spring from pee wees through college. She was a familiar sight at these contests, enjoying the excitement of the games and the friendliness of the people. It should be noted that her understanding of the games themselves and the particulars of each sport never improved over a 60-year period, but no one ever enjoyed the atmosphere more.

Kaye was devoted to Colby College in Waterville. She felt the school had opened a new world to her and the experience changed her life. She became the class agent after graduating in 1943, and continued in that capacity for the next 71 years. She raised millions of dollars for the school during that time. In 1988, she was awarded a “Colby Brick” by the college and in 2013, she was awarded the prestigious Ernest C. Marriner Distinguished Service Award — the top prize given to a deserving alumnus each year.

Kaye was married to her husband “Nels” for 66 years. They retired to Gardiner in 1980, where they lived happily. She was a devoted wife and mother. Her family was always the central focus of her life. Kaye will be remembered by those who knew her for her warmth, her friendliness, her words of encouragement and support and the joy she brought to everything and everyone she touched.

She is survived by brothers, Stephen D. Monaghan, M.D., of Cape Elizabeth and Thomas M. Monaghan, esq., of Portland; two sons, Charles N. Corey III of Pepperell, Mass., and Jeffrey S. Corey of Gardiner; daughter-in-law, Sarah Hallet Corey; and three grandchildren, Maggie, Nels and James.