Hanover, NH – Kathryn Daines Roberts passed away peacefully on January 1, 2025 at Kendal in Hanover, with family at her side. She was a deeply loving wife, mother, and grandmother and in turn was cherished by her family and all who knew her.
She was born on September 23, 1949, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Dr. William Purdie Daines and Anne Anstee Daines. The younger sister of two brothers, she grew up in Ogden, Utah — a state her ancestors helped settle — and attended the University of Utah, where she earned a degree in English literature. While working at the University of Utah Medical Center, she met her future husband, David W. Roberts, MD. They were married in Salt Lake City the following year.
Kathryn and her husband spent the first years of their marriage in Oxford, England, where she was an editor at Blackwell’s. An anglophile all her life, she flourished in a world of books, gardens, theatre, coffee shops, travel, and friends. A semester commuting to Le Cordon Bleu London Culinary School was forever appreciated by her family.
Upon returning to the United States, Kathryn and her husband settled in the Upper Valley and began their family. Their daughter, Jane, was born the following year, and their son, Christopher, three years later. Kathryn delighted in many passions: gardening — notably red geraniums; books — a voracious reader and perennial volunteer for the Hanover and Lyme libraries; children — a volunteer elementary school teaching assistant; the Hopkins Center for the Arts and the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra; and all animals but especially Lizzie, her English springer spaniel. Her heart-warming, radiant smile graced the Dartmouth campus and community.
She is survived by her husband David of Lyme, NH, her daughter Jane Roberts of Burlington, VT, her son Chris Roberts and his wife Kate of Manhattan Beach, CA, her brother John Daines and his wife Barbara of Los Altos, CA, and five grandchildren, Arthur, Sasha, and Frances Weinberg of Burlington, VT, and William and Owen Roberts of Manhattan Beach, CA. She was pre-deceased by her parents and her older brother, William Daines.
The family is extremely grateful to the staff of Kendal’s Whittier Unit for their extraordinary care and compassion.
A funeral service will be held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover on Saturday, January 24, at 11 am.
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