Kathrine Buckley Farr
Kate Buckley, Sailor, Musician, Aunt Extraordinaire.
Kathrine “Kate” Buckley Farr, a longtime resident of Greenport, died Jan. 7, 2017, at San Simeon by the Sound in Greenport.
Born in Brooklyn on May 15, 1942, Kate was a Renaissance woman. She was the youngest of nine children of John “Jay” Buckley and Kathrine Behan “Mimi” Buckley, respectively second and first generation Americans of Irish ancestry. Kate was extraordinarily gifted musically, playing three instruments, her favorite of which was the piano. Kate took up sailing at a young age, keeping up with her siblings when the family spent summers in Southold.
After graduating from Manhattanville College, with a degree in music, Kate lived and worked in Manhattan. She began her career at the Columbia Records division of CBS, initially promoting classical musicians and then moving to promoting rock musicians. Her nieces and nephews vividly recall getting early copies of Big Brother and the Holding Company, an early release of Janis Joplin’s and The Early Beatles album. Two nieces will never forget Kate taking them to David Bowie’s performance at Carnegie Hall during the Ziggy Stardust Tour in 1972, as guests of Columbia Records.
Kate continued to spend every free moment in Southold, sailing her Pearson on the local bays. During an emergency trip from New York City to the North Fork to secure her sailboat as a hurricane advanced towards the East End, Kate realized that her first love was sailing and began to hatch a plan to move to the East End. The plan came to fruition when Kate, who had married William Farr, a longtime colleague from Columbia Records, started Fairwind Yachts, a sailboat charter business in Greenport, which they successfully ran for many years.
Kate was an intelligent, talented, exuberant woman with an extraordinary commitment to and love for her immediate and extended family. There was always room for any and all family members on her sailboats; she provided summer jobs and housing for nieces and nephews at Fairwind Yachts; she was an avid participant in local sailing races and played ferociously competitive Monopoly games with two generations of nieces and nephews. She was handy with all manner of tools and could fix anything—an outboard motor, a broken chair, her VW beetle. She found life way too much fun to fuss or stew about any inconvenience. While her family sorely misses her, she is now at peace.
Kate’s family extends thanks, gratitude and appreciation to all of the staff at San Simeon by the Sound for the wonderful care Kate received during her stay.
Kate is survived by her sisters, Jane Steinbugler and Frances Little Soule and dozens of nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was predeceased by her siblings Mary Elizabeth Buckley, Father John Buckley, Mercedes Buckley Waples, Clifford Buckley, James “Jimmy” Buckley, and Anne Buckley Riley.
The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, at St. Patrick’s R.C. Church in Southold. Interment will follow at the church cemetery.
DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold is assisting the family.
This is a paid notice.
