Katharine "Kate" Zantzinger Okie

Katharine (Kate) Zantzinger Okie (82) of Hershey’s Mill, West Chester Pa, formally of East Brandywine Township, Chester County passed away on Thursday, November 25, 2021, in West Chester, Pennsylanvia. She was the widow of the late Howard Spencer Okie, Jr., organist, pipe organ designer and architect with whom she shared 30 years of marriage in their 19th century home “Burnswark” near the village of Guthriesville before his death in 1988.

She is survived by their two beloved sons, Spencer G. Okie of Morgantown Pa. and his daughter Angelica Lewis; Edward S. Okie and his wife Jennifer of Coatesville and their sons, Callum and Jackson Okie, her sister Amory Stedman and her husband Derek of Hershey’s Mill, West Chester, and 15 nieces and nephews.

Born in Bryn Mawr, Kate was the daughter of Philadelphia architect C. Clark Zantzinger Jr. and his wife Mary Amory (Polly) Cook Zantzinger. She graduated from the Agnes Irwin School and attended Bennington College in Vermont.

Following her marriage in 1959 Kate was a choir member at St. Martins Church, Radnor for 20 years where her husband was organist and choirmaster. During that time she was also chairman of the parish’s Christian Social Relation Committee that focused on the inner city issues relating to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Under the guidance of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania’s Urban Mission project, she and the committee interacted with The Young Great Society in the Mantua section of Philadelphia, a self-help group headed by community leader Herman Wrice focusing on issues of the urban poor.

Music was always an integral part of her family’s life. She continued to sing in the choir at all five of the churches where Howard served as organist and, after he installed a small pipe organ in their home, for 20 years they held an annual Christmas carol party where friends and family gathered around the instrument to sing at Christmas time.

Her interest in preserving places of natural and historic significance was reflected in her fifteen years of service on the Chester County Park and Recreation Board during which time Hibernia, Warwick, and Springton Manor Farm County parks were opened.

Throughout her life she pursued her interest in national and local government serving as an East Brandywine Township Committee woman for ten years working on various national and local campaigns and continued to be active as a citizen in many political issues and elections until her death.

In early 1980 she joined the staff of County Lines Magazine as an advertising account executive and was promoted to Sales Manager, positions she held for 18 years until she retired.

In 2001 she spearheaded an open space preservation initiative in East Brandywine Township and served as chairman of its Open Space Committee during which time 200+ acres were permanently protected from development. She became a spokesperson for open space preservation speaking at township meetings throughout Chester County who were interested in starting open space initiatives of their own.

For 18 years she was a member and lay reader at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Glenmoore and served a term on their vestry before moving out of the area.

In 2002 her book Yuletide Hearth, Christmas in an 1806 Pennsylvania Farmhouse, the 200-year holiday history of her East Brandywine Township home illustrated with her photographs, was published by RB Books. A nature book illustrated with her photos, Enough for One Day’s Grace, Living Wonders that Wait Outside the Door, was self published in 2007.

After her retirement, Kate’s greatest leisure time pleasures were being with her family, photography, gardening, watching birds and “all creatures great and small”, star gazing and watching M.A.S.H on TV.

Kate’s Funeral Service will be announced at a later date in St. Davids Episcopal Church, Radnor, followed by a reception at the parish house.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Kate’s name to the Natural Lands Trust, Hildacy Preserve, 1031 Palmers Mill Rd., Media Pa. 19063 and/or the Brandywine Valley SPCA, 1212 Phoenixville Pike, West Chester Pa. 19380

Arrangements by DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home, Inc. 410 N. Church St. West Chester, PA 19380 610-696-1181; www.DellaFH.com