Katherine "Kitty" Louise Cone

Kitty Cone, Ph.D., Educator, Social Worker, and Founder of Resources for Children's Health, has died at 99.

October 19, 2024
Fort Collins, CO

Katherine Lancaster Cone, known to all as Kitty, was born in Pittsburgh, PA on June 7, 1925. She graduated from Bellevue High School in 1942 and attended the Pennsylvania College for Women, now Chatham University, for one year until war time conditions ended her education plans. She was recruited by Westinghouse as an engineer's assistant in the East Pittsburgh works and when WW II ended, she met her husband, William B. Cone (deceased) at the company. The two raised four children together, eventually settling in the North Hills where she was a member of Memorial Park Church, Allison Park and became its first woman Elder.

In the 1970s, Kitty, a lifelong learner, worked to receive a bachelor's degree from La Roche College, and her MSW and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a faculty member in the Graduate School of Public Health at Pitt as she finished her education, nearly forty years after her first college studies.
Widowed in 1980, she relocated to Philadelphia in 1981 and worked for the University of Pennsylvania and Episcopal Community Services. She founded Resources for Children's Health, a community based non-profit focused on reducing infant mortality in Philadelphia. RCH was later absorbed into Philadelphia's Public Health Management Corporation. Her Community Peer Mentor model is still in use today to support at-risk women during pregnancy and early infant care.

She was a long-time member of Old Pine Street Church in Society Hill and later Gloria Dei Church in Huntingdon Valley where she enjoyed both worship and a community of friends.

An eager and talented jitterbug dancer in her youth, she loved music and social gatherings with family and friends to her final days. As an organizer and social activist, she thought deeply about, and acted on ways to be helpful to those in need. She believed that education is the highest path to opportunity and continued to enrich her life with learning. After retirement, she became a yoga teacher, an activity she continued until age 89.

Kitty was a mentor and role model to her many friends and colleagues with decades of support and wise counsel. In her final few years, she was in the care of The Residence at Oakridge in Fort Collins, CO., near her son, Charles. She is survived by her four children, Marcia Cone Esaki (Koji) Osaka, Japan, Larry Cone (Marie) Surf City, NC, Chuck Cone (Susan) Loveland, CO, and Kate Cone Garza (Len) Philadelphia, PA.
She had 11 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren who knew her as Nana. She enjoyed many visits with all the grand kids in her active senior years and was able to meet and get to know the next generation. She was always happy to hear of each child's activities and milestones.

Go Fund Me page for charitable contributions to be made in honor of Kitty: Honoring Kitty Cone: Support Her Legacy