Kathryn Bergeron
Old Lyme — Kathryn Fallon Bergeron, a longtime resident of Old Lyme, died peacefully in her sleep at Beechwood nursing home in New London March 25, 2024, three months shy of her 97th birthday.
She was born June 15, 1927, in West Haven, the last child of William and Mary Coleman Fallon. Her mother having died from the birth, Kathryn was raised in the household of her aunt Anna Coleman Moran and husband George William Moran, together with their children Gertrude and George, while also spending the summers with her father, half-sister Elisabeth Fallon, and sister Margaret Fallon in Newport, Rhode Island.
The family later moved to Waterbury, where her uncle taught her to play golf, a sport she enjoyed into her 70s. Artistically talented, she graduated from Crosby High School at 16, and pursued the typical opportunities afforded women during the Second World War, completing an associate’s degree in the secretarial sciences at Larson Junior College for Women (now Quinnipiac College), and taking her first job at Chase, Brass and Copper in Waterbury.
Moving to Naugatuck Chemical in the early 1950s, she met the love of her life, Edward Henry Bergeron, a chemist who later served as an aerologist and lieutenant in the United States Navy. They married in 1953 and had two children while Edward was stationed in Monterey, Calif., and Jacksonville, Fla., as a hurricane hunter. In 1957, they moved to Old Lyme, where three more children were born between 1958 and 1961. Old Lyme would remain her home for the next 59 years.
A devout Catholic, Kathryn served for a time as parish secretary at Christ The King Church in Old Lyme; volunteered in a soup kitchen in Norwich; attended retreats with the Edmundites on Enders Island; financially supported her church; and prayed the rosary every day.
A loving wife and mother, she considered her five children her greatest achievement, and loved nothing more than to be in the company of family, talking, listening, and telling stories. Proud of her Irish heritage, she had a quick wit, a democratic political bent, a generous sense of humor, a gentle laugh, and a quiet spirit.
Predeceased by Edward, her husband of 53 years; and her daughter-in-law Carol Paar Bergeron, she is survived by five children, John Edward Bergeron of Fairport, N.Y., Sister Mary Elisabeth Bergeron, OSU, of Patchogue, N.Y., Katherine Ann Bergeron (and husband Joseph Rovan) of Providence, R.I., Anne Thérèse Bergeron (and husband Stephen Wellmeier) of Providence, R.I., and Michael Fallon Bergeron of New London. Her adult grandchildren include, Jason Bergeron (and wife Caitlyn Childress) of Woodbridge, Va., and Dennis Bergeron and Sarah Bergeron of Rochester, N.Y. She was also the proud great-grandmother of Ian and Megan Bergeron, also of Woodbridge, Va.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Beechwood for their thoughtful and compassionate care over the past six years, as well as the staff at Beacon Hospice for their support during the last week of her life.
A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 11 a.m. April 4, at Christ The King Church, 1 McCurdy Road, Old Lyme, to be followed by an interment ceremony at Resurrection Cemetery in Westbrook. Please visit www.fultontherouxoldlyme.com for tributes and directions.