Katherine Mary Palches Yolton (“Katie”) passed away the morning of Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the age of 96, at Navigator Homes in Edgartown. She had been a resident of Navigator, and Windemere Nursing Home, its predecessor, since 2012.
She led a long and full life. Born on July 22, 1929 in Brockton, to the Rev. Peter Palches and Lois Grant Palches, she grew up in Plymouth. She graduated from Plymouth High School, where she loved playing basketball and was known as “Hot Shot Palches.” She graduated from Boston University, with a semester at American University in D.C. She also attended Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in Boston, graduating first in her class, with a typing speed, on a manual typewriter, of 120 wpm!
She met her husband, the Rev. L. William Yolton (“Bill”), when he was attending Harvard and they were both involved in campus ministry. They were married in Osterville on May 24, 1952. Living in New York City while Bill attended Union Theological Seminary, Katie had the first two of her three children, Beth and Debbie. She attended the Juilliard School of Music as a scholarship piano student for a brief period of time. Her son Bruce was born when they returned to Cambridge. Summers were wonderful, as Bill had the enviable assignment of summer pastor on Cuttyhunk Island for many years; she played the lovely pump organ in the little white church on the hill, and they led the popular Saturday night community sing-along and movie night at the town hall. When they moved to Philadelphia, Katie raised her children and taught English to foreign students in her church. Through it all, there was music, playing the piano and organ in churches and homes. Chopin, Scarlatti, Beethoven, Sinatra, Peggy Lee, spirituals, jazz, hymns, and the latest pop — she could, and did, play them all with verve and a smile.
In the late ’60s, she shepherded her family all around the world when they lived just outside Melbourne, Australia, for a year, traveling on the way via Asia and returning via Europe. Suitcases back then were heavy, and didn’t have wheels! The family moved back to the Boston area in the ’70s, in Arlington. Her marriage ended after 24 years, and Katie was on her own. She didn’t always have an easy time of it, but she made her way. She lived and made friends in Princeton, Teaticket, Vineyard Haven, Acadia National Park, and Plymouth.
With failing health, she was able to move into Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation in Oak Bluff 14 years ago. They provided her with a safe and loving home where she had many friends, residents and staff alike. Her family is forever grateful for their support.
Katie battled with a major bipolar disorder as an adult. In the first two decades of her illness, without the discovery of modern medications, she endured several ineffective treatments including analysis, which only put a strain on her and her supportive family. It wasn’t until the drug lithium was discovered and prescribed that there was a modicum of relief for this recurring ailment, which causes paranoia, extreme anxiety, and manic behavior. The recognition that her disease was a biological and neurological phenomenon was liberating, both for her as well as her family, friends, and caregivers. Medications lessened her symptoms, but never cured them fully. Thank you to those who understood, especially those who dealt with Katie when she was in “one of her moods.” She apologized afterward. She was special and resilient. Despite the handicaps of her chronic illness, Katie adapted, persevered, and much to her credit, still managed to live an incredibly rich life. She is missed.
She is survived by her brother, Peter Palches of Oak Bluffs and his wife Ann Palches; by her daughter, Deborah Yolton Kiest and her husband Dr. Curtis Kiest of Pacifica, Calif.; by her son, David Bruce Yolton and his husband Dr. Stephen Billick of New York City; and by her grandson, Nicholas Peter Kiest and his wife Megan Kiest-McFarland of Seattle. Her eldest daughter, Elizabeth Grant Yolton, predeceased her from breast cancer.
The memorial service will be on Saturday, May 30, at 11 am at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard. Interment will be at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, next to “Author’s Ridge,” where Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Alcott are buried.
Donations can be made in her name to organizations in your communities that support the mentally ill.