In life, Katharine Kirkpatrick was an avid community member, an adventurer, and a dedicated volunteer. Her commitment to adventure continues after her 2016 death with a gift of $141,826 from the Katharine M. Kirkpatrick 2002 Trust to the Orono Boardwalk Campaign Fund held at the University of Maine Foundation. Kit’s generous donation will provide 97 new boardwalk sections, including two interpretive stations and two wheelchair turnouts, to replace sections with new, longer lasting materials. In October 2017, volunteers will remove old sections and install new ones, bringing increased longevity of about 30 years to the boardwalk.
The Orono Bog Boardwalk Reconstruction Campaign started in 2010 with a goal to raise the funds necessary to replace the entire, wooden boardwalk with composite decking, stainless steel footings, and aluminum sidings. After the sections from Kit’s donation are installed, only 114 will be left to be replaced at a cost of $226,148. Fundraising efforts are ongoing. Boardwalk volunteers are committed to raising the funds to complete the boardwalk reconstruction project by the end of 2018.
According to her father, Thomas Mumford, “Kit died August 25, 2016, 74 years of an active life, learning, loving, doing for others and fighting for those things in which she believed. Her illness was mercifully short and she was not alone in death as family members watched over her.”
If you would like to make a donation to the remaining balance of the Boardwalk Campaign, please follow this link: DONATE
Pictured above: Orono Boardwalk Director James Bird, University of Maine Foundation President Jeff Mills and Orono Land Trust Representative Jerry Longcore
Pictured left: Katharine Kirkpatrick
