Kathryn Crane Shultes

Kathryn Crane Shultes, 97, passed away at The Atrium Health Center in Red Bank, NJ on December 31, 2020.

She was born Catherine Ellen Crane in Port Jervis, NY to the late Calvin Van Etten Crane and Mary Asenath Skinner Crane at the Skinner Homestead, site of the birth of her maternal grandfather John in 1863  and his twin daughters Mary Asenath and Anna Van Etten in 1893. She settled in New Jersey with her husband and raised a family in Little Silver, spent 30 years of retirement in her husband's home land of East Berne, New York, and then together, they moved back to Red Bank.

Although she worked as a secretary in the Pentagon, in her childrens' Markham Place grade school in Little Silver, in back office bank support in Red Bank, and as a professional book binder in New York, her main focus was on being a wife, mother, and home maker to her

family. She was best known for her sense of style, artistic sense of decoration, her love of antiques, her support of the Dutch Reformed Church, her interest in people, and her delight in enjoying social celebrations with them. In 2016, she moved into the retirement community at The Atrium in Red Bank, where she blossomed as a stellar bridge player, a champion shuffleboard player, an artist in paint and color, and an enthusiastic party attendant. After high school where she changed her name to Kathy, she graduated from Miss Dayton's Business Courses and was immediately recruited at the newly-opened Pentagon in Washington, D.C. in 1941. Working in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, she met the man who would be her husband: Charles Keith Shultes; they married in 1944.

She is predeceased by her parents; her husband of 64 years; and her oldest son James Austin Shultes, who is survived by his wife Tina Hardy Shultes, his previous wife Pamela Gordon Shultes, their daughter and grandchildren.

 Kathy is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Mary and Charles Lingel; by her son and daughter-in-law Scot Shultes and Leona  Tenebruso-Shultes; by granddaughters Brandy, Suzanne (Dennis Early husband), and Kathryn; and great-grandchildren, Giselle, Hayden, Tristan, Kamalani, and Lillian.

All arrangements for Kathy are private and are under the direction of the John E. Day Funeral Home 85 Riverside Avenue Red Bank, NJ 07701. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your local food bank.

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