Obituary of Catherine Louise Ferry

Known to those most commonly as Cathie, and in younger years as Katie, she was the most kind-hearted person you could know. Cathie was born on October 19, 1947 to Charles and Dorothy Arnold in Portland Oregon. She grew up on a rural farm in Aloha Oregon along with 3 brothers, Chuck, Ric and Tom and 1 sister, Maggie. Cathie was married to John Wilde in the mid-sixties. In May of 1968, they had a daughter, Judi (Judith). It was Mother's Day and after a difficult labor, Judi was taken by emergency cesarean. Cathie always referred to her daughter as her miracle baby. A few years later Cathie and John divorced. Cathie attended beauty school in her late teens and was said to be very talented with styling. However, she was ever the realist and knew she needed to pick a more sound career to rely on. Cathie ended up in the accounting field working at various types of companies including, Bell Telephone, First National Bank and eventually her last job was at Portland Cable Access. In 1972 she met Fred Ferry. They dated for 6 years and on June 30th 1978, Cathie and Fred were married in Reno Nevada. This is also the year they bought their first house in North Portland Oregon, which became their permanent home. Over the years Cathie and Fred enjoyed trips to Hawaii as a getaway from it all. Cathie loved the island of Maui best. Her fondest memories were captured by Fred in beautiful portraits that were made into large prints for framing. Cathie enjoyed country music just as Fred did, but she was known to rock out with her Walkman to hard rock, along with her daughter from time to time. She even enjoyed the music shown to her by her oldest grandchild. Cathie was talented in knitting and crocheting. She also had a knack for sewing and made a lot of her daughter's clothing when Judi was young. Cathie was diagnosed with chronic progressive MS in her early 40's. It was a long and hard road but eventually Cathie came to accept her condition and always made the best of it all and kept positive. In 2017 it was time for long term care for Cathie and Fred helped move her to a wonderful foster home not too far their own home. Fred visited Cathie every day. Weekly phone visits with her daughter were the norm for many years. She enjoyed seeing her daughter and grandchildren any time they could visit. Those visits were filled with love and laughter. On January 6, 2108, Fred passed away unexpectedly, leaving Cathie without her soulmate and best friend. Cathie is survived by her brothers, Chuck and Tom, sister Maggie, daughter Judi and 3 grandchildren, Draven, Jennifer and Samuel. Funeral services will be held at Willamette National Cemetery on Thursday July 11, 2019 at 2:00pm. Gathering time begins at 1:30pm Cathie will be laid to rest alongside her husband Fred.