Nancy Kitchen's Legacy of Dedication to Mansfield High School Athletics

Nancy Kitchen first started working in the Mansfield school system over two decades ago and left a lasting impression.

The longtime fixture on the Mansfield High athletic scene died Wednesday, Nov. 23, after a battle with cancer. Services were held Monday at St. Mary's Church in Mansfield.

Kitchen retired in August of 2011 as the administrative assistant to the athletic director at Mansfield High School. For those years, she poured herself into the organization, never stopping until the work was done.

"Her passing is a huge loss of a friend, but also a huge loss for Mansfield," said her former boss at Mansfield High, Margaret Conaty, who is now the athletic director at Hingham High. "She was so dedicated to everything she did. You know how people work their hours like 'OK, time's up, time to go home?' She was one of those people who was just so dedicated... she didn't leave until the work was done. I used to joke with her, saying that if added up all her hours, she would be working for 10 cents an hour!"

Conaty said she had worked with Kitchen for more than 19 years.

"You don't get much closer than that," she said.

Kitchen was always working and always doing what she could for the Mansfield athletics department. Whether it was going to games, filling out paperwork or making sure the players felt appreciated, Kitchen was there for the students.

When the varsity girls' field hockey team won the Hockomock League in an away game, she bought flowers for the entire team and was ready at the bus when they got back to Mansfield.

"She was a huge, consistent asset to our school," MHS teacher Theresa DeGirolamo said. "She was the MVP of our athletic department and will be dearly missed."

Her dedication continued even after she had been diagnosed with cancer. During surgery and chemotherapy treatments, she made sure she was at the Boston Garden, cheering on the Mansfield basketball teams.

“I called her one time this year and she was getting a chemotherapy treatment,” Conaty said. “She was actually at the hospital... and she said ‘Yeah, you just sit here and they put a drip into you. Yeah, I’m working on parent permission forms; making sure they’re all in.’ She was just a perfectionist.”

Conaty said that she was very unassuming and never tried to take any kind of credit for her work. She was in it for the school and the students.

"She was without question the unsung hero of our athletic department for decades," Mansfield varsity football and girls' basketball head coach Michael Redding said. "She quietly did so much for so many coaches and so many student-athletes without ever getting the recognition she deserved."

Kitchen was born in Providence, R.I. and grew up in Warren. She had been a Mansfield resident for 35 years and was a communicant of St. Mary’s Church.

Besides rooting for the Hornets, she was also a huge New England sports fan.

“She listened to WEEI radio all day in the office,” Conaty said. “She knew everything about the Red Sox, the Celtics and the Patriots and all that, but especially the Red Sox.”

Kitchen worked relentlessly to make sure everything went off without a hitch in the MHS athletics department. She organized bus schedules for away games, officiated track meets, scored basketball games, organized the senior awards night and much much more.

“No matter what you needed, she would find a way to get it done if it was to help a student be successful,” Redding said.

 “My deepest sympathy to her husband, Mike, and her daughters, Kerri and Lori, she will be missed by everyone,” School Committee Chair Michael Trowbridge.

Many of those she worked with said she meant much more to them than a coworker or colleague.

“She was a very, very popular member of our staff and a beloved member of the Mansfield family of coaches and we will all miss her tremendously,” Redding said. “She always had a smile on her face, was so proud of her beautiful family and win or lose was always rooting for the Red Sox to win another title.  She really was one of the nicest and most generous people I have ever met and we were all lucky to have her in our lives.”

In lieu of flowers, Mrs. Kitchen's family has requested that donations in her memory be made to the Dana- Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168 www.danafarber.org.