Kathleen K. Cheney, 72, Battled Illness Valiantly

Kathleen Kenefick Cheney was born on July 9, 1932, in Buffalo, N.Y., to Ted and Polly Kenefick. She attended Westover School in Connecticut graduating with honors and went on to Vassar College for two years. After spending a year at a finishing school in Florence, Italy she went to work for Time-Life in New York city. In 1963 she received her BA from Catholic University in Washington D.C.

On Nov. 13, 1961, Kathleen married Ronald L. Cheney in Buffalo, N.Y. Two years later her only child, Felicia, was born. Kathleen was a loving and attentive mother while she was capable. It is likely that for many years, Kathleen managed to quell any outward signs of paranoid schizophrenia, but in the 1960s her disease became unmanageable. Eventually, Kathleen tried to take her own life and lost custody of her daughter. Following her downturn, Kathleen moved from Cambridge to Buffalo and finally to Santa Fe, N.M., where she remained until the mid 1980's. Without consistent care and medication, Kathleen succumbed to the ravages of her disease. For the remaining 20 years of her life, she spent her time between mental institutions and halfway houses.

Prior to the onset of her disease, Kathleen was a funny, intelligent, attractive, and vibrant woman. Even until her death she retained her sharp sense of irony, was fluent in Italian and French, and sketched well. The paranoia and hallucinations, however, took over such a large part of her psyche that she trusted no one, not even her family and was rendered incapable of handling everyday life. In the end, Kathleen spurned the love and attention of her entire family and all of her friends. She died alone on Dec. 2, 2004.

Kathleen's daughter struggled for years to find meaning in her mother's suffering. Only when her friend wrote the following poem in sympathy did she begin to see the gift:

Some live their lives in rainbow hues
When they leave this earth it's big news
Their colors had been displayed across the sky
They are missed by many who ask why

Others live their lives in a forest of trees
A whisper of sound in the breeze
A shaft of sunlight hitting one place
For a moment of time in that space

While maybe not bearers of extravagant color
Their presence is felt and lives made fuller
Although your mom was not someone I knew
I'll celebrate her life because she made you

Survivors include her older sister, Sheila Bertozzi of Palm Desert, Calif.; her daughter, Felicia Cheney; her son in law, Robert Fynbo; and two grandchildren, Colin Day and Gavin Fynbo all of Edgartown, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. Her younger brother, Michael Kenefick of Seattle, Wash. and Palm Desert, Calif. died in February of 2005.

Donations may be made in Kathleen's name to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill or to the Albright Knox Museum of Buffalo, N.Y.