Meg Gorrie: A Force of Nature

 photo by Benoit Cortet

While everyone in the area is familiar with the SBMWA Kate Gorrie Butterfly House or has driven past the prominent sign for D&R Greenway Kate’s Trail, few are aware of the wider life-changing impact both the Gorrie family and their daughter Kate have made on our community. I approached Meg Gorrie and asked her to share her important story. 

This was a difficult story to write for many reasons. First, its prominence and weight demand that I get it right. Adding to my challenge is that Hopewell Valley Neighbors magazine shares my Force of Nature stories with a limit on space.

In the past, I have permitted the magazine to cut my feature to meet its space constraints but instead for this piece, I offer a new solution -- a magazine excerpt.

Below please check out three sections.

• Meet The Gorries shares the family introduction to Hopewell Valley.
• Kate’s Legacy is a standalone section for Hopewell Valley Neighbors.
• The Family Today shares their continued strides and impact.

Meet The Gorries

Meg and Tom Gorrie moved to Hopewell Valley, New Jersey for its excellent schools. They arrived when Alex, their oldest son, was in 4^th grade. Within a year, Meg was Hopewell Elementary PTO President.  

The twins Kate and Rob, who had been born on Christmas Day, also attended HES.  Once the twins entered middle school, Meg became heavily involved with the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association.

At the same time, Tom was overseeing global businesses for Johnson & Johnson. He was also the Chairman at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and served on their Board for 17 years.

Meg and Tom were the perfect balance of Yin and Yang.  Tom oversaw medical advances immersed in the whirlwind existence of air travel around the world. Meg was grounded in education and the environment.  Their history of healing, people and land, foreshadowed their eventual story.

The twins also had their own unique balance. They shared that special twin connection, were both smart, and inherited mom’s love of environment. Rob had lots of friends and enjoyed challenging his teachers. Kate was popular with peers and teachers alike.

“I couldn’t wait for teacher conferences,” Meg beamed, “They all began with what a joy Kate was!  Everybody loved her.”

All the Gorrie children attended The Hun School of Princeton. The twins were both in the environmental club. By the time started they their senior year, Meg was on the education committee at The Watershed.  

Meg recalls, “While on sabbatical from The Watershed, Jeff Hoagland traveled to nature centers all around the country and he was over the moon about these indigenous species butterfly houses. When I told Kate about it, she said, ‘Mom, you’ve got to do this!’ We were so excited. We talked about it all that Fall.”

In addition to being an excellent student, Kate played field hockey and co-managed the boy’s ice hockey team with her friend Lindsay.   

On the afternoon of December 22^nd 1997, Kate and Lindsay were in a one-car accident. The cause was unclear, but Lindsay was driving and may have swerved to avoid a deer. Kate was killed instantly when the car hit a tree.

Losing a child is the most devastating experience that a parent can face.  Compounding their unimaginable grief was the challenge that Rob’s birthday was still Christmas Day and he felt that he’d lost his other half.

Christmas was Kate’s favorite day of the year and the family knew she would want them to go on, so they still celebrated the day as best they could in the wake of their tragedy.

Kate entrusted a powerful legacy and purpose to all of those she left behind.

Kate (Gorrie family photo)

Kate’s Legacy

Kate was loved by all who knew her.  To get a better sense of Kate, consider that each year Hun presents “The Katherine Wright Gorrie ’98 Memorial Award.”  

Awarded to a member of the senior class who best exemplifies the qualities of Kate Gorrie. These include a love of family and friends, respect for the environment, joy and radiance of expression and demeanor, integrity, and sincere desire to acquire and impart knowledge.

The Hun School’s response to Kate’s death was sensitive and helpful. Tom and the headmaster, Jim Byer, and others spoke at the funeral. They opened Russell Hall for the reception.  

Meg and Tom arranged a scholarship and a friendship garden in Kate’s honor. The scholarship allows a student to attend Hun who otherwise could not.

Kate’s field hockey coaches initiated The Hun Run in her memory.  Her classmates have continued working on The Run for Kate committee for the past 20 years.

The friendship garden was formed because Kate was loved by all and was everybody’s friend.  It features a pretty statue called “Growing Things,” with a young teenage girl and a vine.  An inscription reads, “In this garden may friendship grow.” There are three benches and sometimes outdoor classes are taught there.

After the accident, the newspaper stated that donations be made to the Watershed in lieu of flowers. The family hoped to use the funds to set up an internship in Kate’s name.

The response was overwhelming and the generous donations helped fund both the internship and The Kate Gorrie Butterfly House. The internship is awarded to a high school student each summer.

Meg describes the Butterfly House. “The wind would come through the screening and you’d see families with little kids come in. It’s really special to see the sense of wonder that comes over people.”

Each year the Watershed held an opening day for the Butterfly House and several years ago, they switched to an official Butterfly Festival. “It’s really extraordinary - 2,500 people show up at her butterfly house and I think ‘Kate, are you seeing this?!’”

The Gorries’ friend Jeannine “Dede” Clements worked with D&R Greenway to create an easement on their farm that includes a one-mile loop trail down to the Stony Brook, known as Kate’s Trail. You can see the sign on Elm Ridge Road.

Meg shared, “I love that so much to do with Kate brings the focus back to the environment.”

Twenty years later and Kate continues to changes lives.

The Family Today

Meg recalls with sadness that “beyond devastating” Christmas.  Subsequent years were spent traveling over Christmas. The family would fly out on the 22^nd -- Hawaii, St. John, the Keys – anywhere to be away, and would return before New Years to a decorated house and celebrate their traditional family Christmas after island Christmas. They had not been in town on December 22^nd since the accident.

This year the Gorries stayed home for Christmas.

“Having the grandbabies makes a huge difference. Christmas is completely chaotic now. It was really nice. Rob and Amanda wanted to do Santa Claus with their kids in Princeton. Alex was married in October and lives with Mary in London.”

They all spent dinner together. They toasted Kate, toasted the marriage, and toasted Rob’s birthday.

This year Hun will hold their 20^th reunion for the Class of 1998.

While the Gorrie family had a long history of high achievement, Kate’s passing brought additional relevance and focus on healing and service to others.  

Tom Gorrie currently sits on the Duke University Board of Directors and chairs the Duke University Health System. He chaired the Global Health Institute Board of Advisors until 2016 and has served on numerous committees. Tom retired from J&J in 2008. He was an advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an adjunct professor at the Rutgers School of Business. He is on the RWJ Foundation Board.

Rob Gorrie has a B.A. in Environmental Studies and received his J.D. magna cum laude, with a Certificate in Environmental Law.  His job allows him to work with small business and homeowners to remediate environmental disasters on their property. His prior work found him in NJ, NY, PA and CA designing and implementing cleanups at polluted sites. Today, he lives in Princeton with his wife Amanda and their two children.

Meg has won numerous environmental awards and recognition, including many from her important work at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association.  In addition to the internship and Butterfly House, she is Trustee Emeritus and co-chaired the “Pass It On Campaign” which is responsible for creating the new environmental center, redesigning the 930 acre trail network of the Watershed Reserve, and fortifying the Watershed Association endowment. She also served on the D&R Greenway Board of Trustees for several years.

Meg is the former President of the Stony Brook Garden Club. Her peers presented the Zone Conservation Award and wrote: 

“She has worked on countless community minded projects all for the care and preservation of the natural world. She is kind, witty and wonderful. She is an inspiration to SBGC, our zone, and our state.”

Force of Nature – Meg and Kate Gorrie

Like Mother, Like Daughter