CARLSBAD -- Katharine Wright Chaffee, 84, died unexpectedly, probably of sudden cardiac arrest, Sunday, June 17, 2007.

Born Nov. 10, 1922, in Kansas City, Mo., she lived in Carlsbad for seven years. She spent much of her childhood in Colorado Springs, Colo. She often visited her great-uncle, Orville Wright, who with his brother, Wilbur, invented the airplane. She received her master's degree in social work from Syracuse University in upstate New York, having first attended Oberlin College in Ohio and then received her bachelor's degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio.

She contributed her expertise as a gardener to a number of local organizations. This included service as a docent with Torrey Pines State Reserve and her work in the herb gardens at the McGee House of Carlsbad. She was a participant in the Carlsbad Senior Center Discussion Group and the Learning is For Everyone (LIFE) group at MiraCosta College in Vista.

Mrs. Chaffee was preceded in death by her husband, E. Dugald Chaffee in 1975.

She is survived by her son, Bruce Gordon Chaffee of Colorado; daughter Susan Katharine Chaffee of California, and two grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Heritage Hall in McGee Park (Carlsbad Boulevard and Beach Avenue in Carlsbad).

In lieu of flowers, her family requests donations be made in her memory to Torrey Pines State Reserve, La Jolla or the McGee House of Carlsbad.

For more information, contact Susan Chaffee at shdwprincess@yahoo.com.