Catherine "Kitty" Ward Cahill Harley

Catherine “Kitty” Ward Cahill Harley passed away peacefully on February 11, 2024; just a few weeks shy of her 89th birthday. She was born on March 8, 1935, in Chicago, IL. Her parents, Alice Smoak Cahill and Hawley Smith Cahill, passed away when she was quite young so she was cared for by her adoring grandparents, William Wightman Smoak and Anne Ward Weston Smoak, in Walterboro. Upon their passings, she came to Beaufort and lived with her Aunt Elizabeth (Lib) and Uncle William (Bill) Morrall. Kitty graduated from Beaufort High School where she was a majorette in the marching band. She then attended Winthrop College where she was crowned “Miss Winthrop” and finished her degree both with honors and in record time so that she could marry her fiancé Russell Harley. They had been married for 57 years when he passed away in 2014. After a short stint in San Antonio, Texas while Russell served in the Air Force, they returned to Beaufort and never left. She proclaimed her “career” was her family and appropriately hung her diploma in the laundry room.
Despite a great deal of loss in her early life, Kitty “always felt loved”. She will be remembered for her incredible kindness, her service to others, and her unwavering faith. As a member of First Presbyterian Church for almost 70 years she served as a Sunday School teacher, an Elder, Clerk of Session, Youth Fellowship leader, Bible School teacher and rarely if ever missed a service sitting in the third pew on the left while Russell sang in the choir. She was a staunch supporter of Beaufort Academy where she served for ten years on the Board of Directors and established The Catherine Cahill Harley scholarship. She helped start and directed Beaufort’s Meals on Wheels for many years, was a Girl Scout leader, chaired the Beaufort Chamber Orchestra membership committee, Beaufort’s Young Life chapter and the Beaufort Christian Women’s Club. She was Volunteer of the Year at River Oaks Residential Care and served on the committee to form a mental health facility in Beaufort in the early 1960s. She and Russell loved sailing, Citadel football games, their long running supper club, anything blue, their beautiful view of the Beaufort River, but Kitty was most proud of her children and grandchildren. She loved having them in her home, marching to band music while banging on pots and pans, decorating cookies, and making them big breakfasts. The only naughty thing she ever did was take a hymnal from the chapel at Winthrop College so she could use it to play her favorites on the piano. She still has it.
Kitty is survived by her children Sandra Counts, Elizabeth Willett (Chris), and Russell Harley, Jr. and her grandchildren Wes and Claire Counts, Catherine Willett and Hellen Willett Jose (Rory), and Hunter and Griffin Harley.
The family wishes to thank Dr. Lucius Laffitte, the staff of The Retreat, Agape Hospice, Martha Linnen, Krisan Edlin, and Wes Counts for their compassionate care during her time with Alzheimers Disease.
A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort on Saturday, February 17 at 11 am. A reception will follow in Fellowship Hall.
In lieu of flowers, those who wish may send memorial contributions to First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort (1201 North Street, Beaufort SC 29902) or to Beaufort Academy (240 Sams Point Road, Beaufort, SC 29907).
Copeland Funeral Services is in charge of arrangements.