The daughters of a former West Hartford couple who died after falling through ice on Cape Cod are setting up a foundation to honor their parents – and the surviving dog that brought first responders to the scene – as well as to continue the couple’s charity work.
Called “Kit & Jerry’s Foundation for Good,” it will recognize Kathleen and Gerard Boucher’s life “defined by vibrant energy and steady generosity.” It is temporarily linked to a GoFundMe online fundraising site so people may be able to start donating while the daughters finish setting up a nonprofit corporation.
“We established this foundation to ensure their hardworking hearts continue to serve the community they loved so much,” the daughters wrote on the foundation’s website.
The Eastham couple fell through the ice on the Bee’s River at First Encounter Beach Saturday morning, local police said. Two officers also fell into the icy river while trying to save Kathleen Boucher, who was screaming for help, they said.
The officers were able to get back to shore, and divers in cold water suits found Kathleen after a few hours of searching, but it was too late; she was pronounced dead, officials said.
Search and rescue teams work to rescue two former West Hartford residents from the Bee’s River Saturday. Kathleen “Kit” Boucher was removed from the ice-covered water, but died. Her husband, Gerard “Jerry” Boucher is believed to have died but has not been recovered, police say. (WCVB / Hearst TV)
Despite additional searches that included drones and aircraft, Gerard Boucher has not been found.
Kathleen Boucher, who was 71, was a retired kindergarten teacher at Bugbee Elementary School in West Hartford, said one of her two daughters, Amy Boucher Lawson, and Gerard Boucher, 72, was a retired employee of Connecticut Natural Gas, where he worked his way up from fleet mechanic to management.
They moved to Eastham in 2008 and remained active after retirement, Lawson and her sister, Katy Boucher, said: Their father worked as a handyman, drove people to medical appointments and delivered coats and meals. Their mother soaked in the Cape’s beauty on daily walks, dabbled in photography and volunteered for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Their inspiration for the foundation came on Sunday, when the sisters found a notebook in their father’s truck. It was full of detailed plans to raise money for beds for a Hyannis emergency shelter, St. Joseph’s Homeless Shelter, and for equipment for the Brazilian Resource Center, which helps low-income, homeless and immigrant communities on Cape Cod and the islands, according to its website.
They decided to set up the foundation to raise money for both programs with which their father was involved. Future projects will include the IFAW in their mother’s name and animal shelters – a nod to Casey, their parents’ dog.
Someone found the wet dog, apparently in distress, by her owners’ car Saturday in the beach parking lot, prompting the person to call 911 and setting in motion the rescue attempts, Lawson said.
Casey, who is now with family members, turned 12 the day her owners died, she said.
Her parents called her their “BFF.”
This article originally published at Family of ex-West Hartford couple who died after falling through ice in Cape Cod set up foundation.
