Obituary
With sorrow, disbelief, and gratitude for her amazingly good and long life, we announce the gentle, graceful, dignified passing of Kathryn Idell Pettes Crandall, peacefully at her home in Knowlton, Quebec, with her cherished daughter, Deirdre Susan Elizabeth Crandall, holding her tenderly in her arms.
Predeceased by her beloved husband, Norman Macdonald Crandall (19151982), and cherished son, Tyler Jay Crandall (1944-1990), and cherished siblings Mary (Molly) Louise Pettes, (18891953) (Guy Mason, Laurence Delmar Macclintock), Jeremiah Curtis Pettes (1896-1918), Evelyn Maude Pettes (19011985), (Howard Davison Hyman, Frank Macdonald), Florence May Pettes (18991988) (Charles Porteous Thornton), Heber Austin Pettes (1905-1978) (Marion Bell Mclauglin).
Grandmother of Scott Macdonald Marks (Kelly Jean Purkis), and Ted Jay Marks (Rebecca Jane Marks). Greatgrandmother of Michael Lisle Bynoe, Kathleen Jennifer Boynoe, Logan John Donald Marks, Summer Jayne Marks, Samuel Ross Marks, and great-greatgrandmother of Payton Boynoe. Kathryn was born in Knowlton, Quebec and proudly lived her entire life there. She was the youngest daughter of Austin Wheeler Pettes (1858-1941) and Delilah May Curtis (1874-1937), granddaughter of Jeremiah Charles Pettes (1820-1914) and Susan Charlotte Wheeler (1829-1905), granddaughter of Tyler Baxter Curtis (1837-1912) and Delilah May Colton (1839-1912), greatniece of Nathanial Pettes (1816-1889) and Narcissa Farrand Pettes (1821-1912), who in 1894 established the Pettes Memorial Library in Knowlton, the oldest free rural library in Quebec. Niece of Ellen Florence Pettes (1850-1926), and Judge William Warren Lynch (18451916), Francis Carrie Pettes (1855-1933) and John Edward Fay (1853-1937), Effie Lavonia Curtis (1863-1948) and Ernest Everett Philbrick, (1965-1948), Almon Henry Curtis (1865-1871), Geniver Tyler Curtis (1870-1945) and Martha Rose Stockwell 1870-1945), Hettie Eliza Curtis (1872-1950) and Baxter Maurice Cleveland (1902-1979), Lena Maude Curtis (1878- 1946) and Sewell Franklin (Frank) Belknap (1879-1920).
Kathryn was always intrigued that some of her Pettes ancestors had been Huguenots (French Protestants) who had fled persecution in France during the 17th century, often changing the spelling of their names as they settled all over Europe, including England. Some of Kathryn’s ancestors moved to the United States, then eventually, as United Empire Loyalists, chose to moved to Canada, some of them settling in the West Brome area. Kathryn enjoyed visiting cemeteries in New England and the two local Pettes Cemeteries, most frequently the Pettes Cemetery in West Brome, where some of her ancestors tracing to James Pettes (1759-1833) and Kathryn (Kate) Olney (1759-1853) are buried. Many of her Curtis family relatives were from the Danville area and she always expressed regret that she did not have opportunity to know her Curtis relatives more closely. Kathryn endeavored to locate, reach out to and stay in touch with relatives by letters, phone calls and emails and was always pleased when relatives contacted her. The nuances of Kathryn’s relationships were expressed in the proliferation of names she was fondly and teasingly referred to: “Kathryn, Kay, Aunt Kay, Katie, Ma Tante, Ma Tante Kathryn, KP, and Queenie.” Narratives abound. Kathryn cherished and was cherished by her Pettes relatives and by her Crandall family by marriage, for which she was always grateful.
Kathryn was fluently bilingual in French and English, having been educated for the first six years of her schooling by Les Soeurs St-joseph de St Hyacinthe at the St-edouard Parish in Knowlton. Her memory for people, narratives and dates was clear, vivid and astonishing. She was an avid reader, bird watcher, gardener, lover of nature, ardent environmentalist and an engaging conversationalist on almost any topic, a raconteur and oral historian with special interests in history, local history, genealogy and current affairs. In recent years, she was an eager follower of the excavations and adventures underway off the shore of Nova Scotia, as televised on “The Curse of Oak