Kathryn Pennypacker Harrison

Kathryn Pennypacker Harrison, beloved mother, grandmother, wife, friend, and public servant, passed away on May 9, 2026, after enduring Alzheimer's Disease for many years. Kathryn was born in Evanston, Illinois, to Ruth R. and Kendall S. Pennypacker, and grew up in Upper Nyack, New York. Kathryn became a proud graduate of Rockland Country Day School, a school co-founded by her father. After earning her B.A. in History at Vassar College in 1967, she ventured cross-country to San Francisco in 1972 and proceeded to call the Bay Area home for the rest of her life.

Kathryn graduated from UC Hastings College of Law in 1976 and went on to dedicate her career to public service, working in San Francisco's Office of the City Attorney for more than three decades. She raised her two daughters, Caroline and Elizabeth, in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. Kathryn loved road trips and fell in love with her adopted home of California, and she cherished taking her daughters on summer vacations in Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and the Sierras. In 1993, she married William Harrison, and they built a home with their expanded family in Marin County.

Kathryn was an animated and excitable conversationalist with a fierce intellect. She was a passionate history buff who could hold forth on a dizzying array of topics and never failed to pull over to read a historical marker. She adored sharing laughter with her friends, and her friends adored hearing her laugh. In any conversation, she made her friends feel that there was no place she would rather be.

Kathryn was preceded in death by her husband William Harrison and her step-son Kevin. She is survived by her siblings Peter and Susan Pennypacker; daughters Caroline Cincotta and Elizabeth McBride; stepchildren Brian Harrison and Paula McCarroll; grandchildren Kate, Sarah, and Charlotte McBride, Nora Kaser, Sophia and Michael Harrison, Abigail, Liam, and Noelle McCarroll; numerous nieces and nephews; and countless friends.