Born on May 4, 1950, to Robert and Marjorie French in Evanston, Illinois, Cathy’s childhood was filled with family, friends, and adventures with her brothers Lenny and Kenny (now all grown up to Leonard/Len and Kenneth/Ken). She would frequently recall stories of her mother welcoming her home after school and inquiring about her day, of happy times spent with grandparents GaGa and Pa, and of summer trips to Tomahawk, WI and the annual ritual of individually buying a 5 cent ice cream (to avoid sales tax).
Cathy graduated from the University of Illinois, whose mascot she jokingly referred to as the Illini-O! The “O” she would recall was in reference to the zero that regularly followed the school on the scoreboard at football games. She also loved teasing that her life included bathing in “champagne”, a play on the location of U of I at Urbana-Champaign.
With degree in education in hand, she set out to find that everyone else was also educated in education and there were not jobs to be found. So she set her sights to the sky and became an airline stewardess (as they were known then) for United Airlines in Chicago. She enjoyed reminding people that this wasn’t a time of peanuts and water, but that airline travel in her day included delivering hot meals to 100+ travelers – and cleaning them up – on flights from O’Hare to Indianapolis.
It was in Chicago that Cathy met the love of her life Jan…in a laundromat, of all places! In what seems like the stuff of romantic comedies, Jan (at the time a professional hockey player for the Chicago Cougars), a fellow Cougar teammate, and a team sponsor/supporter met Cathy in line while she was picking up her United uniform and the hockey players their suits. They invited her to the game that night and after the game, the OTHER hockey player took Cathy out on a date! Shy Jan finally got up the nerve to ask Cathy out a mere 3 weeks later.
They quickly fell in love and were married in Evanston in 1975. In the first few years of marriage, they moved frequently with hockey team trades from Chicago to Denver to Houston to Oklahoma City to Phoenix. Luckily Cathy’s United career and love of travel gave her the flexibility and sense of adventure to roll with the moves.
Ultimately, they made Houston their home, took on “Texas citizenship”, and settled into new careers as a home builder for Jan and real estate broker for Cathy. In 1980, they welcomed the birth of their daughter Lynn. Cathy joyfully and lovingly nurtured Lynn and shaped her into the woman she is today. She loved being a mother – second only to being a grandmother (stay tuned).
In Texas, Cathy finally put that education degree to good use as a grade school teacher. She taught in Klein ISD in Spring, Texas for 20 years. She was a dedicated teacher who loved her students and loved her fellow teachers as well. While teaching was a job, retirement was the dream, and in 2005, Cathy hung up her chalk to join the ranks of people who have ample time for multiple book clubs, Master Gardner classes, aqua aerobics at the Y, and lunches with friends. Eventually she would convince Jan to retire as well so they could move to Atlanta in 2016 to be close to Lynn, son-in-law Kevin, and (most importantly) to their grandchildren, which brings us to the next chapter.
In 2012, Cathy became a grandmother. She wasn’t just any grandmother, she was Mimi! She loved her grandchildren, Austin and Lauren, with every bone of her body, and they loved her equally in return. Mimi (formerly known as Cathy) would often say her greatest joy in life was watching her grandchildren eat ice cream – which they did almost every time they were together – morning, noon or night! With trips to the dollar store, playing in the pool, or games around the house, their faces would light up with her sense of humor, laughter and joy that she brought to every moment spent together. She was just getting into the best strides as Mimi and she will be terribly missed, but Jan, Lynn, and Kevin promise to maintain the cookie/candy stores in the pantry, frequent bowls of ice cream, and memorial trips to the dollar store.
Cathy is survived by Jan, her husband of 45 years, her daughter Lynn, son-in-law Kevin and grandchildren Austin and Lauren as well as by her brothers Len French and Ken French and their families. We have been blessed by her presence in our lives and are so thankful for the extra days we’ve had following her cancer diagnosis at the beginning of 2020. She will be truly missed, and we take heart in knowing that she will continue to watch over us from above.
