PORTER, Catherine Mary "Kate" (Friedl) 1914-2012
PORTER, FRIEDL, SCHARES, SMITH, BILLINGS, RALSTON, KAPLER
Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 11/13/2012 at 22:35:23
[Waterloo Courier, Sunday, October 28, 2012]
Catherine Mary Friedl Porter, 98, of Waterloo, died peacefully on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, at Lakeview Landing. Her family was with her.
Catherine was born May 10, 1914, in Waterloo, the daughter of Phil and Mary Schares Friedl. She was the oldest of nine children and attended school in Waverly and Waterloo. She graduated from Sacred Heart High School, and then attended nursing school in Rochester, Minn.
She married Thomas Davis Porter Aug. 17, 1935, and after a short time in Waterloo, they moved to Green Bay, Wis. In 1946 they returned to Waterloo where they lived for many years. Upon her retirement, she moved to St. Cloud, Minn., to live with her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Smith, and then returned to Waterloo to take up residence in Friendship Village.
She worked for many years at Friedl’s Prime Rib Restaurant on Commercial Street as the hostess, and then worked at Friendship Village as a hostess and assistant bookkeeper, where she remained until she was in her mid-70s. She was very active with the Rosary Society at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.
She will long be remembered as a very loving, caring, generous and friendly woman. She met no strangers; they all immediately became good friends. Her positive spirit and loving personality were appreciated by all. She was a devoted daughter, mother, wife, sister and grandmother. She was an avid card player and taught her children and all grandchildren how to play card games. A favorite pastime at all family gatherings was both a Euchre and a bridge tournament. She loved a house full of her extended family.
Kate is survived by four children – Phil (Carol) of Oskaloosa, Tom (Rosemary) of Sturbridge, Mass., Michael (Rosemary) of Columbia, Mo., and Jim (Polly) of Iowa City. She has 15 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren; and her siblings, Msgr. Francis Friedl of Dubuque; Mary Billings of Oceanside, Calif.; Sr. Mary Margaret of Corpus Christi, Texas, Jim of Waterloo, Rosemary Ralston of Waterloo and Tom of Galena, Ill.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Philip (Chub) Friedl Jr., her husband, Thomas Davis Porter, her sister, Shirley Kapler and her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Porter Smith.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Edward’s Catholic Church with burial in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Public visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Hagarty- Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Service on West Ridgeway, where there will be a 4 p.m. Catholic Daughters of the Americas rosary and a 6:30 p.m. vigil service. Visitation will continue at the church for an hour before services on Monday.
Memorials may be directed to Friendship Village Foundation, Waterloo, in appreciation for the wonderful care Kate received while she was there.
Black Hawk Obituaries maintained by Karen De Groote.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen