Born May 12, 1944
Philadelphia, PA
Died Sept. 26, 2024
Lebanon, NH
North Clarendon, VT — Catherine O’Kane, founder and publisher of the Vermont County Sampler newspaper, died Sept. 26th, 2024, of heart disease at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. She was 80 years old.
The Vermont Country Sampler, a popular free monthly newspaper, ran the largest calendar of events of any Vermont publication. The Sampler included feature stories of past and present Vermont, photographs, poetry, book reviews, an almanac with gardening tips and interesting ads. It was published for 38 years and had a devoted following.
Catherine was the daughter of William O’Kane and Elisabeth Doren O’Kane. She attended public schools in Chagrin Falls, OH, and won a statewide award in mathematics.
Her uncle was Richard Hetherington O’Kane, a United States Navy submarine commander in World War II, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for commanding USS Tang in the Pacific War against Japan to the most successful record of any United States submarine ever.
As a young women Catherine raised, showed and rescued Great Danes. She also worked as an aide in a nursing home.
At age 17 she moved to New York City where she opened a resume business on Madison Ave., especially serving those in the military. She also had a resume business later on in DC with many government clients. Years later she would point out people on TV whom she had done resumes for.
She left New York for the Los Angeles, where she met her first husband, John Donovan, a talented rock musician. They eventually moved back to the DC area where his family lived and had many self-employed businesses over the years.
She moved to Vermont in 1981 and worked in ad sales for the Herald of Randolph weekly newspaper. In 1984 she went out on her own and started publishing the Vermont Country Sampler. Soon after, Charles Sutton, a new England freelance journalist, started writing stories for the Sampler. He later became her husband and co-publisher.
The couple traveled all over Vermont doing photo features, especially on changes in agriculture and environmental issues. Due to health and other issues, the couple stopped publishing the Sampler in October, 2022 and continued the online calendar through May, 2024.
Cathy’s mother Elisabeth was a lifetime support. She wrote stories for the Sampler, well into her 80s, about growing up in Upstate New York on a farm at the turn of the century. Cathy took care of her at home through the end of her life.
Catherine is survived by her husband Charles C. Sutton and two sons, Jesse O’Kane, Virginia, and Andrew Donovan, Vermont,
Read the story on VTDigger here: Catherine O’Kane.