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Kristin was devoted to her family and delighted in the arts, especially theater, classical music, and painting, with taste that was both exacting and appreciative.

      Kristin Margaret Thorstensen O’Connell of Easthampton passed away peacefully and surrounded by family on August 23, 2025, after a short illness. Born in 1943, she spent her earliest years living in California and Minnesota, then moved to Iowa City, where she spent several idyllic years. After moving to Albany, New York, she graduated from the Albany Academy for Girls, then attended Radcliffe College, graduating in 1965.

      While there, she met her husband-to-be, Barry O’Connell. After a year teaching English in Jaipur, India, she married Barry in 1966. She then earned a masters degree in architectural preservation from Boston University. 

      She and Barry moved to Amherst in 1972. Over her career, Kristin worked as, among other things, an architectural historian and urban planner in Boston, a journalist for the Amherst Bulletin and Daily Hampshire Gazette, and a program officer for the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. In the latter capacity she established the Clemente Project in Massachusetts, which enabled students to study at the collegiate level. In 1984-85 she lived in Warsaw, Poland, an experience she found deeply illuminating and exciting. She traveled widely with her family in Europe and the United States. In her last years, she enjoyed living at the Lathrop Community in Easthampton.

      Kristin was devoted to her family and delighted in the arts, especially theater, classical music, and painting, with taste that was both exacting and appreciative. She was an avid reader of fiction and history. She kept in touch with a vast network of friends around the world, crafting letters so gorgeously written that their recipients were intimidated as well as touched. 

      She is survived by her son Jamie O’Connell and daughter-in-law Anne Joseph O’Connell; daughter Katharine Mora and son-in-law Fausto Mora; grandchildren Nicole Mora, Adrian Mora, Emmie Mora, Eliot O’Connell, and Alex O’Connell; sister Trudy O’Connell and brother-in-law Peter O’Connell; brother John Thorstensen and sister-in-law Katrina Alef; sister-in-law Kate O’Connell and brother-in-law Michael Miller; and eight nieces and nephews.

A natural green burial was held in Wildwood cemetery in Amherst. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project.

 A memorial service will be held at a later date.