Catherine Jones Adams, 77, a longtime resident of Kennebunkport, died Thursday, November 16, 2017 at Southern Maine Health Center in Biddeford.

She thought of herself first as an entrepreneur. She spent 19 years building Catwear, an apparel company that sold items she designed and had made here in Maine. Her tagline was “Clothing for the Independent Woman.” It was also clothing from an independent woman. She was very proud of her work, and her family is very proud of her.

She lived a rich life. She was born in San Antonio, Texas, on July 26, 1940, the daughter of Joshua Candler and Margaret Zachry Jones. After graduating from the University of Texas, Austin, a summer vacation with friends in Europe turned into several years of work in Germany. She moved to Carmel, California, where she drove a convertible Volkswagen up and down the coast, honing that independent woman look that she wore the rest of her life.

A blind date led to a lifelong marriage to Wayne Thomas Adams. They lived in Brussels for a few years, where Catherine worked her way through Julia Childs’ cookbook. They moved to his family home in Kennebunkport to raise a family. They all survive her, and miss her: eldest daughter Sarah Adams of Kennebunkport; Bradford Adams and his wife Clara Long of Oakland, CA, and their son Sage Rustin Thomas Adams; and a younger daughter Emily Adams, married to Joel Aguilar of Oaxaca, Mexico, and their two children Goya Aguilar Adams and Lorenzo Tomas Aguilar Adams.


Catherine was known for her sharp eye for style and for her quick wit. She loved her hens, her weekly duplicate bridge game, and her nightly martini. She was a no-nonsense woman who always perched her glasses on the tip of her nose.

Friends are invited to visit with the family 4 to 7PM Monday, November 20, 2017 at Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St. Kennebunk. A Memorial Service will be held 10 AM Tuesday, November 21, at St. David’s Episcopal Church, 138 York St. Kennebunk, with Reverend Andrew D’Angio White officiating. Interment will follow in Arundel Cemetery, Kennebunkport.

To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit Catherine’s Book of Memories Page at www.bibberfuneral.com.