Kitty Porterfield

Kitty Porterfield died on 16 October 2026, aged 85, after an 18 month battle with breast cancer, surrounded by family and friends. Her death was announced in a letter from Scholarship Fund of Alexandria executive director Jasmine Milone and reported by The Zebra on 28 October 2026. Milone wrote: "What a gift it is to have known Kitty. The difference she has made will be felt for generations to come."

She was survived by her brother, John Burnett, her three children and their spouses, five grandchildren and her companion, Bruce Miller. A celebration of her life was scheduled for Saturday 5 December 2026 at 11 a.m. at Emmanuel Episcopal Church on Russell Road in Alexandria, and the family asked for donations to the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria or to Jazz at Meade at Meade Memorial Episcopal Church in lieu of flowers.

Katherine "Kitty" Burnett was born on 24 April 1941 in Albany, New York, to the Reverend Brewer L. Burnett, a Presbyterian minister, and Katherine Burnett, nee Howland. She grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a community largely made up of first and second generation European immigrants, which she later remembered as one that valued young people and fully supported their success.

She studied in Boston at Radcliffe College of Harvard University and graduated in 1963 with a degree in government. That same year she married Jovan Porterfield, a native of Waxahachie, Texas, and the couple moved to Alexandria, Virginia. At first she was unsure the small city was the right place to raise a family, but over more than 60 years she came to see herself as blessed to have lived in two nurturing communities.

In the early 1980s, while helping her elder daughter, Karen, with college applications, Porterfield spent many hours with Jim McClure, director of guidance at T.C. Williams High School, and with fellow parent and School Board member Tim Elliott. They identified only a handful of independent community based scholarship funds in the United States, and she travelled to Cleveland, Ohio, to see one at work. At the time she directed a K to 12 arts in education programme in Arlington.

The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria was formed in the fall of 1985, independent of but working with the school system, which agreed to pay a director's salary. Porterfield applied and was chosen as the first executive director. As the sole employee she met students and families, helped them with applications and financial aid, and recruited community volunteers to read scholarship applications. A chance conversation on the Metro with City Councilman Bob Calhoun led to a 25,000 dollar city matching grant, and the first scholarships, totalling about 7,000 dollars, were awarded in the spring of 1986. "I essentially replicated the process I went through with my own children," she said. She led the fund until 1992, raising about a million dollars and establishing an endowment.

In 1992 Superintendent Paul Masem recruited her to head the communications department of Alexandria City Public Schools. She later became director of communications for Fairfax County Public Schools, where she guided the school system's communication with families during the 11 September 2001 attacks and the 2002 Washington area sniper shootings. Her crisis communications work was recognised by the US Departments of Education and Homeland Security and earned professional honours including the National School Public Relations Association Gold Medallion. She wrote books and articles on school communications, social media and youth and family issues.

As a volunteer she was president of the T.C. Williams High School Crew Boosters, helping bring about the Dee Campbell Rowing Center dedicated in 1986, and was founding chair of the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints, a rowing competition that raises money for Alexandria's high school crews. She also held leadership roles with Senior Services of Alexandria, the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Community College, Hopkins House and the USRowing Board of Directors.

Porterfield and her husband, Jovan, raised three children in Alexandria: Karen, Deborah and Michael. Michael, a former trustee of the Scholarship Fund, once called the fund his mother's fourth child, a description she embraced. Jovan Porterfield died in 2006, and in later years her companion was Bruce Miller.

She was an enthusiastic traveller whose journeys ranged from Kathmandu to Tasmania, though New Mexico held a special place in her heart. She held season tickets to Arena Stage for many years, attended jazz concerts around Washington, and enjoyed photography, rowing, antique prints and maps and Native American pottery. She also supported Sibshops, a programme for siblings of children with disabilities.

The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, which marked its 40th year in 2026, has awarded about 25 million dollars to more than 6,000 graduates of Alexandria City Public Schools, and much of the model Porterfield built, from personal advising to volunteer readers, remains in place. She was inducted into the Living Legends of Alexandria in 2025. She was especially moved by former scholarship recipients who returned to the city as professionals, volunteers and donors. "Alexandria invests in its kids, and they, in turn, invest in their community," she said. "It really is a thing of beauty."