ROCKPORT — Dr. Katherine Ann Killoran, beloved mother, wife, sister, and friend, died peacefully at her home in Rockport surrounded by her family on November 21, 2025 due to complications from breast cancer. She was 57.

Katherine (known to most as “Kate”) was the daughter of long-time Rockport residents Paul and Elizabeth Killoran. She was born on May 16, 1968 in New York City, the second of six children. While still an infant, Kate moved with her family to Rockport so her parents could pursue careers as physicians serving the medical needs of Midcoast Maine communities. Kate attended local schools, graduating from Camden-Rockport High School in 1986 after a one year stint at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts. She then attended Bates College in Lewiston. After college, she moved to Boston where she worked in a research laboratory at Tufts University and completed her remaining pre-medical requirements at Harvard Extension School. Kate attended Boston University School of Medicine, graduating in 1999, and completed her medical residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Denver in 2003. She immediately returned to Midcoast Maine to practice Obstetrics and Gynecology at Pen Bay Medical Center, assisting countless women with the delivery of their babies. In 2013, she transitioned to a gynecology practice with Midcoast Medicine and Wellness and later served as the medical director for New Season Treatment Center, providing treatment for patients with opioid use disorder.

Kate was an accomplished athlete throughout her life. A fierce competitor on her high school swim, field hockey, and track teams, her picture could often be found on the sports pages of the Camden Herald and Courier Gazette newspapers. She continued her athletic career at Bates College on both the swim and rowing teams. She was an avid competitor and fundraiser with the Maine Cancer Foundation’s Tri-for-a-Cure, winning the Cancer Survivor division in 2018. Kate also enjoyed the outdoors, including open-water swimming, running, skiing, sailing, and hiking. She completed the Isleboro Crossing for LifeFlight swim multiple times. She shared her joy of athleticism with her family and friends with physical challenges like a family “duathlon,” a race involving a swim across Lake Megunticook followed by a trail run through the Camden Hills State Park. None who experienced the family’s “fitness lunacy” regretted it.

Kate met her future husband, Scott Layton, in 2006, introduced by mutual friends. Kate and Scott shared their love of cooking, training for triathlons, and, when Scott could keep up, swimming together. They were married in August 2008 and their daughter Flynn was born in 2009. Kate enjoyed volunteering with the Camden YMCA Sailfish swim team, mentoring Flynn and her teammates. The family traveled around the country, supporting each other in countless triathlons, road races, marathons, and swimming events.

No one will ever do a “Lake Day” better than Kate. On a calm, clear, summer day Kate enjoyed nothing more  than spending time in the sun with her family on Megunticook Lake. Committed to keeping the lake healthy, she volunteered with the Megunticook Watershed Association and carried on a family tradition of supporting water quality testing efforts. She loved to travel with her family. Adventures included a trip with her sister across Europe, a Taylor Swift concert with Flynn in New Orleans, and trips visiting friends in the Netherlands and Iceland. She hiked in the Alps, skied the Rockies, and explored Mexico.

Family was extremely important to Kate, and she believed in showing up and showing her support. Even when her health was failing she was on the pool deck, on the sidelines, and in the audience, cheering loudly at her daughter’s swim meets, her husband’s races, and her nieces’ soccer games and dance performances.

Kate is survived by her daughter, Flynn Layton, and husband, Scott Layton, as well as her five siblings: Joseph Killoran, Peter Killoran, Patrick Killoran, Timothy Killoran, and Christina Killoran, their families; and her friends near and far. She will be missed dearly.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory can be made to the Coastal Mountain Land Trust, the Megunticook Watershed Association, and the Maine Cancer Foundation.

A celebration of life will be held on Monday, December 29, 2025, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., at Pascal Hall, 86 Pascal Ave in Rockport.

Condolences and memories may be shared at www.longfuneralhomecamden.com. Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 9 Mountain Street, Camden.