Kathryn Bean Defries

Kathryn (Kitty) deFries passed quietly on February 3rd, 2022. She was 88 years old. Born Eleanor Kathryn Bean to Belinda Howard Tydings Bean and Robert Clinton Bean in 1933, she grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, and also spent several of her childhood years living in Puerto Rico during World War II. She was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, Jules Max deFries, and two older sisters, Elizabeth (Betty) Bean Sunderland, and Dorothy Bean Fulton. She is survived by her three children and their partners, Karyn deFries Haasen (Don), Johanna deFries Tydings (Patrick Standing) and Peter Chapman deFries (Meg), six grandchildren, John Roche Jr. (Jess), Dennis Roche (Karen), Austin Tydings, Cole Tydings, Ellie deFries, Otto deFries, and 2 great-grandchildren, Connor and Ava Roche. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews, and great-grandnieces and nephews. For both her immediate family and Jules’, she was the last of her generation to leave this world. Upon graduation from Annapolis High School, Kitty came to Towson State Teachers College in 1950, and met her future husband, Jules, there. They married in April, 1953, just after being celebrated in February as the “Sweethearts of ‘53” at the annual Sweetheart Dance at the college. The young Mrs. deFries taught elementary school for a few years in Baltimore County after graduating from college in 1954, and then retired in anticipation of their first child’s arrival. For the remainder of her life, she was a devoted mother and homemaker. Kitty and Jules raised their family in Towson, living in Anneslie for almost all of their married life. After Jules’s passing in March 2005, Kitty moved to Oak Crest Retirement Community. Kitty was active in Stoneleigh Elementary School’s PTA, Girl Scout troops, and other activities revolving around her children. Her special artistic flair was evident annually in her management of the Stoneleigh May Fair craft booth, and in the pleasure she took in decorating her home, and refinishing furniture. She was famous for her creativity with holiday, birthday, and dinner party themes – making every milestone beautiful and memorable. The deFries childrens’ halloween costumes set the bar high at the Anneslie block party each year. Their friends remember to this day how they loved to come to the house at holidays…Kitty was always warm, welcoming and had a houseful of treats for them. She was a fan of her children’s sports, and enjoyed playing tennis herself. She was, overall, a very devoted, supportive, and loving mother and wife, and later, grandmother, nurturing her grandchildren in her quiet, gentle way, and taking great pleasure in their achievements over the years. She maintained close friendships with a group of moms in Anneslie, and with her old college friends throughout her life. As an empty nester, her interests in genealogy and history were actualized through her long involvement with the Historical Society of Baltimore County, where she served as Secretary, and helped with event planning. She loved being surrounded with history and antiques. She traced her own family back to pre-Revolutionary days in Maryland, and she also collected and documented as much as possible about the deFries German immigrant experience. In retirement Kitty and Jules traveled extensively in the United States and Europe with their Towson State Teachers College friends. Kitty also especially loved beach trips with her entire family together in one place. A memorial service is planned for March 12, 2022 at 3 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 120 Allegheny Avenue, Towson, Maryland. Donations may be made in memory of Kathryn (Kitty) B. deFries, to the Historical Society of Baltimore County, online at www.hsobc.org, or by mail 9811 Van Buren Lane, Cockeysville, MD 21030. https://hsobc.org/product/kathryn-kitty-defries-memorial-donation/