Margaret (Gunn) Kane

KENT — Margaret (Gunn) Kane, 98, a lifelong resident of Kent, died Jan. 24, 2013, at her home on Skiff Mountain. She was born April 20, 1914, in White Plains, N.Y., the daughter of Pauline (Skiff) and Charles Berry Gunn. She was a direct descendant of Nathan Skiff who first settled Skiff Mountain in 1761. Mrs. Kane was a graduate of the Gateway School in New Haven, Conn., and a 1936 graduate of Wellesley College with a Bachelor of Arts in art history. She then graduated from the Columbia Presbyterian School of Nursing and later completed a master’s in public health from Harvard University. A graduate of New York’s Maternity Center Association, she was the 100th licensed midwife in the state of New York. Mrs. Kane’s varied career as a public health nurse included positions with the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service in New York City and the New York Maternity Center. She served as an itinerant nurse for the Alaskan Native Service, U.S. Dept. of Interior-Kodiak Island, Alaskan Territory, prior to Alaska becoming a state. She met her husband, Walter Reilly Kane, while serving as a school nurse at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. They were married Aug. 21, 1953, in Seattle, Wash. She later became a nursing supervisor with the Suffolk County Health Department in Hauppauge, N.Y., and also worked with Planned Parenthood.Mrs. Kane had many interests, read extensively and was a diligent correspondent. She actively traveled throughout her life, bicycling around the British Isles; hiking in Europe; mountain climbing in the southwest U.S.; canoeing in Canada; and kayaking in Iceland (at the age of 87). At home, she was most often found in her garden accompanied by her corgis.In addition to her husband, she is survived by a daughter, Katherine Skiff Kane, DVM, and her husband, Dennis De Paul, of Kent. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by a brother, Charles Berry Gunn Jr.; and two sisters, Katherine (Gunn) Connable and Betsy (Gunn) Hubbard.A memorial service will take place in her garden in the spring. To send the family an online condolence, go to www.hufcutfuneralhome.com.Memorial contributions may be made to the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association.