Groton — Kathryn Rose “Cookie” (DeMarinis) Schwarzenbach passed after a long illness Feb. 28, 2023 in Groton. She was born Jan. 2, 1948, in Nuremberg, Germany, to Anthony and Adeline (Numis) DeMarinis.
Growing up primarily in Europe, she also found time to visit her ancestral homeland of the United States of America, periodically. She never lost her love of continental Europe, frequently regaling her family, friends, and total strangers with tales of skiing the slopes of the Alps in Switzerland, or partying until the early morning hours in Berlin discotheques. Often these stories would come in rapid fire German that she never forgot.
She loved the water and, as her Italian maiden name implied (loosely translated, “from the sea”), Kathryn couldn’t bear to live far from the Atlantic Ocean. After finally settling in the U.S. in the 1970s, and graduating from Southern Connecticut State University, she spent time as a teacher in Groton, before having two children and making Mystic, Stonington, and Pawcatuck her home.
She is predeceased by her parents; and two brothers, Ronald and Anthony Jr. (“Chickie”). She is survived by her daughter Kristine Schwarzenbach of Pawcatuck; and son Bradley Schwarzenbach and his wife Lisa Julian of Charleston, S.C.; as well as her sister Linda Green of Cabin John, Md.; and niece Kathryn Wichmann of Washington, D.C.; also many, many loving cousins across the country.
She is to be laid to rest at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, next to her family at Starr Burying Ground in Groton. All friends and family are invited to join in a remembrance of Kathryn’s life at that time.