Mary (Kathy) passed away peacefully and surrounded by family on Friday, February 6, 2026, after a year-long battle with cancer.
Born and raised in Winchester, Massachusetts, Kathy was the third of seven children born to Mary (Kimball) and Charles Sousa. She graduated from Winchester High School in 1972 and met her devoted husband, Wayne Durante, in 1973.
In their younger years, Kathy and Wayne spent time with friends and working in the fields at the Bayrd family farm in Hollis, New Hampshire, making memories they would go on to cherish forever. In 1978, Kathy and Wayne married and bought an old cottage together in Billerica, Massachusetts. It is there that they built their home and their family. Kathy worked in manufacturing until their first child was born, at which time she took on what she would refer to as the “most important job” – raising five children to be kind human beings and active and engaged citizens.
Kathy was selfless; she cared deeply about the equitable treatment of others and the importance of helping her own community, instilling these values in her children. As her children grew, Kathy began working for the Billerica Public Schools, first as a library volunteer at the Vining Elementary School and then as a paraprofessional and 1:1 aide in the district’s special education department for eighteen years. After retiring, she focused on spending time with her grandchildren, whom she loved dearly.
Kathy was a master conversationalist and offered refreshingly honest opinions, chatting and laughing with friends over coffee and with neighbors in front of the house on a summer day. She was also a talented crocheter, crafting beautifully intricate snowflakes and all manner of gifts for friends and family. Music could be heard regularly from the Durante household throughout the years, with Kathy singing and listening to Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Andrews Sisters and more. While she was one of the most caring and considerate people you could meet, Kathy was also incredibly resilient, hardworking, and tenacious. She embraced a spirit of handling whatever needed to be done in the moment. These qualities carried her through life and through her illness. She was unafraid of death, knowing that she had lived a good life, had raised her five children, had watched them marry their spouses and build their own lives, and had met her eight beloved grandchildren.
Kathy is survived by her loving husband of 47 years, Wayne, her adoring children and their spouses, George & Mary Kate Durante, Charlotte & Nicholas Fields, Rachel & Martin Gullberg, Genevieve & Jonathan Burgett, and Albert & Kaitlin Durante, as well as her precious grandchildren, Lily, Hollis, Henry, Cal, Evelyn, Nolan, Violet, and Iris. She is also survived by her treasured siblings, Charles J. Sousa Jr., Anthony, William, Robert, Therese “Terrie” DeMonte, Joseph, and siblings-in-law, Marie Britt, June Grey, and Gerald Durante, and by her dear nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
A service to honor and memorialize Kathy’s life is anticipated in the spring. In lieu of flowers, please be kind to everyone in her honor and memory.
