Tough as nails with a kind heart, Kathleen Rose Lyng (Butler) was born on June 24, 1939 in Winchester Hospital in Winchester, Massachusetts. Kathy grew up in a house filled with love and laughter in Wakefield with four younger brothers and her parents, Helen and William “Bill” Butler. Their home also served as the Butler Funeral Home and Kathy liked to share funny stories about what it was like to grow up in a funeral parlor.

Kathy graduated from Emmanuel College and then moved to Massapequa, N.Y. where she took a job as an English teacher, got her Master’s from Hofstra University and met the love of her life, Jim Lyng.

They moved to Marshfield, Mass. where they raised their two sons, Dave and Tom and Kathy developed lifelong friendships with people she met in the Gourmet Club and her various book clubs. When David and Tom were young, she worked as an elementary school tutor at the South River School.

Kathy loved to cook, dine at fine restaurants and attend theater and music performances both in Boston and the Berkshires. She also loved nature walks, especially the Audubon’s Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary and later in life, she discovered the Marshfield Senior Center where she loved to participate in their many activities.

She spent her later years in Norwell, Mass. at Jacob’s Pond and then in Rye, NH at Webster at Rye. She is predeceased by her husband James Lyng; her parents, William and Helen Butler; and her younger brother Thomas Butler. She is survived by her brothers William (Ginger) Butler, Robert (Patty) Butler, and Brian (Kathleen) Butler; her sons, David and Tom and daughters-in-law Anu and Kim; and four grandchildren, Evan, Eva, Rylan, and Alec.

Visiting hours will be held on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the MacDonald Funeral Home in Marshfield. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Christine Parish Church in Marshfield, followed by burial in St. Mary Cemetery in Scituate.

Donations in her name can be made to Audubon’s Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in lieu of flowers: Mass Audubon Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary