The Captiva Island Historical Society is pleased to welcome Kathy Ferrari to its Board of Directors. 

Kathy grew up in a small town in northern Illinois and began visiting Captiva and Sanibel as a child in the 1970s.  Her parents, who enjoyed fishing which drew them to the islands, eventually purchased a condo at Punta Rassa where Kathy spent college breaks and many vacations thereafter.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Boston College and worked in sports broadcasting as one of the first female reporters in the Boston market, before dedicating her full energy to raising her three children with her husband David in the Boston area.

She was thrilled to introduce the islands to her own family and she and her husband bought a condo on Captiva in 2013. They now split their time between Captiva and Milton, Massachusetts, where she is a member of the Milton Historical Society. She also volunteers at the Milton Animal Shelter.

Once her children were older, Kathy worked as a copy editor and staff reporter for the Milton Times newspaper for many years, as well as a freelance reporter for The Boston Globe.

In 2019, she began working as a staff reporter for the Island Sun newspaper on Sanibel, writing news pieces, feature stories, and columns including “What’s Cap-pening,” which covered events on Captiva.

With publication of the paper suspended due to damage from Hurricane Ian, Kathy worked for a season as administrative and events assistant at the Captiva Civic Association, where she enjoyed getting to know more neighbors and assisting her island community.

Kathy is thrilled about the opportunity to continue those efforts by joining the Captiva Island Historical Society board.

"We are extremely pleased Kathy will be bringing her personal appreciation and knowledge of island history to our hard working Board, along with her professional communication talents," said CIHS Board President, Tom Libonate.