Obituary : Katherine B. Banks
Katherine Bell Banks, 96, died on Saturday, July 26, at her residence in West Orange. Born on May 2, 1912, in Morristown, Tenn., Ms. Banks lived in Orange before moving to West Orange a year ago.
She attended Newark public schools and was one of the first African-American students to attend and graduate from Montclair State Teachers College.
She taught at Spelman College in Atlanta and, in 1952, received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in France. She also taught French at Vailsburg High School in Newark and, in 1966, became the chairperson of the Language Department there. She retired in 1986.
Ms. Banks was a member of the Northeasterners, the International Cosmopolitan Club, the Alliance Francaise and the Newark Museum in 1985, where she served as a docent.
She was predeceased by her husband, Burnwell B. Banks; her sister, Thomasina Fitz-Roy; and a nephew, Donald Fitz-Roy Jr. She is survived by a great-neice, Jennifer Fitz-Roy; a great-nephew, Donald Fitz-Roy, and other relatives and friends.
