On April 21, 2023, Kathleen “Kay” Cody Sengle passed away peacefully at The Village at Penn State, State College, PA, where she had been a resident for the previous seven and a half years. Kathleen was born on Oct. 26, 1930, in Syracuse, and was raised on the Cody Dairy Farm in the Town of Fenner, N.Y. She was the eldest of three children of Mabel Richards Cody and K. Stanley Cody, who predeceased her. She is survived by her brother Kendall Cody (Jane) of town of Fenner, and was predeceased by her sister Mildred “Milly” Eagan (Ed) of Long Island, N.Y.
Kathleen graduated from Cazenovia Central School and earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. She also earned a master’s degree in English at SUNY Albany and a master’s degree in counseling at Lehigh University. She began her working career teaching in Campbell, N.Y., and it was during her college breaks and summer vacations while waitressing at Skytop Lodge in the Pocono Mountains that she met John “Jake” Sengle, who was a science teacher at the local primary school Barrett Elementary Center. Jake and Kathleen were married in Mountainhome, PA, on Aug. 20, 1955, the day after the infamous “Flood of ‘55” that devastated the Pocono Mountains region. Jake and Kathleen shared almost 55 years of marriage until Jake’s death on Feb. 13, 2010.
From 1955 until 2015, Kathleen lived and worked in Mountainhome and served as a teacher and school counselor for the Pocono Mountain School district until her retirement in 1992. Kay was an active member of the Mountainhome United Methodist Church, a stalwart supporter of and long-time volunteer at the Barrett Friendly Library, was active in the local AAUW chapter, a supporter of Boy Scout-Troop-89 of Barrett Township and a charter member and active volunteer for the Barrett Township Historical Society. Jake and Kathleen traveled widely in the United States and abroad. Kathleen was a woman of keen intellect, an avid reader, a wonderful conversationalist with great intellectual curiosity, a devotee of PBS and British television, and a lover of beauty and culture. She was a great believer in the importance of hard work, fairness, equality and the “common good.” Kathleen loved her family unconditionally. She was a supportive mother, aunt, sister and grandmother, and she and Jake gladly sacrificed to enhance the lives of their family. Kathleen, like her husband, was unfailingly humble, and in all things, placed the needs of others ahead of her own. She was a loyal and devoted friend and left the world a better place for her time in it.
Kathleen will be dearly missed by many, but none more than her family: sons John (Jo Ann) of Julian, PA and Edward (Beth) of Hinesburg, VT, and her grandchildren: Ben Barrett, Laura Sengle (Jeff Wagner), Jackson Sengle, Maria Sengle, and Henry Sengle, and her three great-grandchildren.
The Sengle Family would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to the nurses and staff at Mt. Nittany Hospital, The Atrium at the Village at Penn State and UMPC-Home Hospice for their competent and compassionate care and for helping to make Kathleen’s final days a time of calm and peace.
Contributions in Kathleen’s memory may be made to: Barrett Friendly Library, 6500 Route-191, Cresco, PA 18326 and Centre County Library and Historical Museum, 200 North Allegheny St., Bellefonte, PA 16823.
Celebrations of life in State College and Mountainhome will be at later dates. “Keep Calm and Carry On.”
Arrangements are under the direction of Wetzler Funeral Service Inc. in Bellefonte.
Online condolences may be made to the family at wetzlerfuneralhome.com.
