Catherine Silk Callaghan
Birth: 5 Dec 1902, San Francisco, CA
Death: 16 Jun 1969, San Francisco, CA
Spouse: Lester Orwood Joseph Callaghan
Birth: 9 May 1898, San Francisco, CA
Marriage: 16 Sep 1928, San Francisco, CA
Death: 31 Jul 1968, San Francisco, CA
Children: Dolores Lorraine Veronica (1930-2010)
Catherine Agnes Silk was born on December 5, 1902. She was named after her youngest aunt Kate Silk and her oldest aunt Mary Agnes Silk, but her sisters called her Catty or Kay. She had been baptized in early 1903 at St. Patrick’s Church, but the records were lost in the Fire, so the exact date and the names of her godparents are unknown.
Her father died of pneumonia when she was just six months old. She moved around the City as a child as her mother Ellen tried to cope with the death of her first and then her second husband. In 1910, Catherine was seven when Ellen died of valvular heart disease and the family split up. Catherine was taken in and raised by her Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary (nee Moran) in St. Agnes Parish. Though she always wanted to be closer to her sisters, Catherine always felt hurt by the fact that Juel had taken in Gert, but not her. It is unknown exactly when Gert moved in with Juel, but she may have already been a teenager at the time. Being younger than Gert by 3 years, the adults probably thought Catherine needed more attention. Why Jim and Mary only took Catherine and not Gert is unknown. Already an introvert, though, this situation added to Catherine’s sense of isolation.
Jim and Mary owned the houses at 720-722 and 717 Clayton Street in the Haight District. Catherine would live there with them until she married. Aunt Mary’s brother lived in 724 Clayton and Catherine grew up with her Moran cousins Adelaide, Marie and Willie. Though her sisters called her "Catty," the Morans called her Piano Legs. Unlike her aunt and namesake, she never went by Kate or Katie. Catherine was a tomboy who used to go "skitchin'" on the trolley cars, which meant she would grab the back of the car while wearing roller skate to hitch a ride. According to Dolores, she played the piano beautifully but hated it because her aunt had always forced her to get up early before school to practice. After she married, she never had a piano in the house. Years later she remembered that Cousin Willie would sit next to her while she played and “have a feel.” Dolores was mortified by the story, but Catherine would just laugh and say, “He’s a priest now. I wonder if he remembers that.” Willie was Fr. Bill Moran who, after a long career as a chaplain in the US Army, was appointed Auxiliary Bishop to the Army by Cardinal Spellman.
Death: 16 Jun 1969, San Francisco, CA
Spouse: Lester Orwood Joseph Callaghan
Birth: 9 May 1898, San Francisco, CA
Marriage: 16 Sep 1928, San Francisco, CA
Death: 31 Jul 1968, San Francisco, CA
Children: Dolores Lorraine Veronica (1930-2010)
Catherine Agnes Silk was born on December 5, 1902. She was named after her youngest aunt Kate Silk and her oldest aunt Mary Agnes Silk, but her sisters called her Catty or Kay. She had been baptized in early 1903 at St. Patrick’s Church, but the records were lost in the Fire, so the exact date and the names of her godparents are unknown.
Her father died of pneumonia when she was just six months old. She moved around the City as a child as her mother Ellen tried to cope with the death of her first and then her second husband. In 1910, Catherine was seven when Ellen died of valvular heart disease and the family split up. Catherine was taken in and raised by her Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary (nee Moran) in St. Agnes Parish. Though she always wanted to be closer to her sisters, Catherine always felt hurt by the fact that Juel had taken in Gert, but not her. It is unknown exactly when Gert moved in with Juel, but she may have already been a teenager at the time. Being younger than Gert by 3 years, the adults probably thought Catherine needed more attention. Why Jim and Mary only took Catherine and not Gert is unknown. Already an introvert, though, this situation added to Catherine’s sense of isolation.
Jim and Mary owned the houses at 720-722 and 717 Clayton Street in the Haight District. Catherine would live there with them until she married. Aunt Mary’s brother lived in 724 Clayton and Catherine grew up with her Moran cousins Adelaide, Marie and Willie. Though her sisters called her "Catty," the Morans called her Piano Legs. Unlike her aunt and namesake, she never went by Kate or Katie. Catherine was a tomboy who used to go "skitchin'" on the trolley cars, which meant she would grab the back of the car while wearing roller skate to hitch a ride. According to Dolores, she played the piano beautifully but hated it because her aunt had always forced her to get up early before school to practice. After she married, she never had a piano in the house. Years later she remembered that Cousin Willie would sit next to her while she played and “have a feel.” Dolores was mortified by the story, but Catherine would just laugh and say, “He’s a priest now. I wonder if he remembers that.” Willie was Fr. Bill Moran who, after a long career as a chaplain in the US Army, was appointed Auxiliary Bishop to the Army by Cardinal Spellman.
Catherine was a devout Catholic. She attended St. Agnes’ Grammar School and she was confirmed at St. Agnes Church on October 25, 1914. Her sponsor was the 7th Grade teacher, Mrs. Delahienty, who sponsored the whole class. Catherine continued at St. Agnes’ Presentation Academy for Young Ladies (later known as Presentation High School). Her high school experiences included lectures in Sacred Heart Hall every Friday during Lent. According a memoir written by a graduating senior in 1918, the lectures were “on our Lord’s Passion. How we did look forward to and enjoy these instructions. On April 23, the Feast of Our Lady of Good Council, we were initiated into the [next] degree of the School Sodality. That also was a memorable day in my life.” School unity was accentuated by an annual school picnic in honor of the graduating class and a “Candy Party” for the younger children in the grammar school.
St. Agnes Academy also provided an excellent education. The classes were small, only a dozen or so students per graduating class. In 1915, the school moved from its location at 755 Ashbury where it had started in 1907 to the building at 255 Masonic which would serve as its home until closing in 1988. The curriculum included Latin and Spanish, Algebra and Geometry, Ancient and Modern History, English, bookkeeping, typing and short-hand. In 1921, she graduated from the Commercial Institute of St. Agnes Academy. She received national certifications in Palmer Method business writing and in typewriting, the latter awarded by the Underwood Typewriting Company for “speed and accuracy in typewriting 40 words per minute according to the International Contest Rules for ten minutes.” Her piano skills helped her with machines like the typewriter and adding machine.
After graduation, Catherine continued her engagement with St. Agnes. She joined the Agnetian Auxiliary of the Agnetian Club. The club had started in 1919 and was confined to young adults over 18. It had an equal number of men and women. The membership grew to 2,000. It was a social club with sports and dramatics, socials, and monthly communions. Catherine is the seventh from the left, front row, in the 1923 Agnetian Communion photo above. The famous San Francisco lawyer Vincent Hallinan was also a member. Their football, basketball and baseball teams competed with some local colleges and did very well. In 1925, Fr. Butler, the pastor who had started the club, was moved to another parish and the society lost steam. Later, she would attend retreats with women from St. Brigid’s parish.
Like many San Francisco middle class families, the Silks and Morans spent summers in cabins on the Russian River. They would hike, swim in the river, and play cards. Catherine grew to enjoy Whist, Pinnacle, and Gin Rummy, the latter of which she taught her grandsons. A 1921 Chronicle article stated, “Arrangements are underway to make the whist [tournament] and dansant (small dance) for the benefit of the churches of the summering places of Guerneville, Monte Rio, and Rio Nido the big pre-Lenten social event.” The article named Catherine and her brother John among those interested in the success of the affair. The affair would take place on February 3, 1921, in the Colonial Ball Room of the St. Francis Hotel.
Catherine obtained a job as a stenographer at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph (PT&T). A phone company coworker of Catherine’s was Ruth Callaghan, whose brother Lester met Catherine at a dance in 1926. Lester was there with his best friend Brick Doyle, who dared him to “make that big blonde smile.” He approached Catherine, and she ultimately did smile.
St. Agnes Academy also provided an excellent education. The classes were small, only a dozen or so students per graduating class. In 1915, the school moved from its location at 755 Ashbury where it had started in 1907 to the building at 255 Masonic which would serve as its home until closing in 1988. The curriculum included Latin and Spanish, Algebra and Geometry, Ancient and Modern History, English, bookkeeping, typing and short-hand. In 1921, she graduated from the Commercial Institute of St. Agnes Academy. She received national certifications in Palmer Method business writing and in typewriting, the latter awarded by the Underwood Typewriting Company for “speed and accuracy in typewriting 40 words per minute according to the International Contest Rules for ten minutes.” Her piano skills helped her with machines like the typewriter and adding machine.
After graduation, Catherine continued her engagement with St. Agnes. She joined the Agnetian Auxiliary of the Agnetian Club. The club had started in 1919 and was confined to young adults over 18. It had an equal number of men and women. The membership grew to 2,000. It was a social club with sports and dramatics, socials, and monthly communions. Catherine is the seventh from the left, front row, in the 1923 Agnetian Communion photo above. The famous San Francisco lawyer Vincent Hallinan was also a member. Their football, basketball and baseball teams competed with some local colleges and did very well. In 1925, Fr. Butler, the pastor who had started the club, was moved to another parish and the society lost steam. Later, she would attend retreats with women from St. Brigid’s parish.
Like many San Francisco middle class families, the Silks and Morans spent summers in cabins on the Russian River. They would hike, swim in the river, and play cards. Catherine grew to enjoy Whist, Pinnacle, and Gin Rummy, the latter of which she taught her grandsons. A 1921 Chronicle article stated, “Arrangements are underway to make the whist [tournament] and dansant (small dance) for the benefit of the churches of the summering places of Guerneville, Monte Rio, and Rio Nido the big pre-Lenten social event.” The article named Catherine and her brother John among those interested in the success of the affair. The affair would take place on February 3, 1921, in the Colonial Ball Room of the St. Francis Hotel.
Catherine obtained a job as a stenographer at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph (PT&T). A phone company coworker of Catherine’s was Ruth Callaghan, whose brother Lester met Catherine at a dance in 1926. Lester was there with his best friend Brick Doyle, who dared him to “make that big blonde smile.” He approached Catherine, and she ultimately did smile.
Lester Orwood Callaghan was born on May 9, 1898, to John Callaghan and Ellen Millerick. He was named after a character in a book that his mother was reading. As neither Lester nor Orwood was a saint’s name, he was baptized Lester Joseph, which he used later in life. For his confirmation name he took Francis, after his deceased older brother. Les was born at his mother’s sister’s house in San Francisco, but he grew up on a ranch outside of Rio Vista where his father grew wheat and raised sheep. Les’s mother Ellen died when he was ten and he had a tumultuous relationship with his father, especially after his father remarried. He had attended Rio Vista’s Catholic school, St. Gertrude’s, where he graduated from the 8th grade in 1915. He had wanted to continue to St. Mary’s like his father and uncle, but his father refused to support him.
Les was a thick-set farm boy--5’9” and 200 lbs., with blue eyes and brown hair. His Millerick cousins all remembered him as having a heart of gold and that he greeted everyone with a warm, open, and genuine smile. His grandsons remembered him for his love of gardening and poker and for his willingness to get down on the floor and play marbles with them.
Les had moved to San Francisco with his sisters in 1917. In the City, he took a job as a compositor/ typesetter for his uncle William Millerick. William was a printer who owned his own bookbinding company. Les and Catherine were drawn together by their shared loss of parents, heightened in part by their mothers’ sharing of the name Ellen. They married on September 16, 1928, at St. Agnes Church. The best man was Clarence (Brick) Doyle and the maid of honor was Madeline Bennett.
Catherine moved into Les’s apartment at 1174 Sacramento Street, on the east slope of Nob Hill. Shortly after they married, the Depression hit and Les lost his job when the print shop closed. Luckily, he was not out of work long as he got a job as a gripman on the California Street Cable Car. He had worked as a streetcar conductor in 1920 and had some friends still in the business who helped him get the gripman job. Years later, Catherine would tell the story that she had gone to St. Brigid’s Church and prayed before the statue of Our Lady of Dolors for him to get a job and that she promised to name their daughter Dolores if her prayers were answered. They were and she did. Her memory must have been off, though, because he got the job almost a year before she got pregnant.
Among Catherine and Les’s best friends were Mabel and Augie Mullers. Augie was a taxi driver and chauffer (later a truck driver) who had worked in the 1920s with Lester’s brother-in-law Arnold “Trigger” O’Larte. They had cocktail hour together (“Vodka tonics, all around!”) and played cards weekly. They spent summers together up the River.
In 1930, they moved to 1446 Jackson Street, near Hyde, in St. Brigid’s Parish. On October 1, 1930, their only daughter Dolores was born at St. Mary’s Hospital. Another baby was born on the same day in the same hospital room, to an unwed mother who refused to look at or hold him. When Mabel and Augie visited Catherine, they were touched and adopted the boy, naming him Bob. Dolores and Bob were raised like siblings. That would be the closest Dolores would have to a sibling. After the birth, Catherine and Les were informed that Catherine had a “tipped uterus” which would cause difficulty with getting pregnant in the future and that it would require surgery to resolve. Given the financial situation of the time and the risks of the surgery, they chose not to fix the problem.
Two years later, they moved into Mayme Comisky’s big apartment building at 301 Hugo Street on the corner of 4th Avenue, near Kezar Stadium, where they were back in St. Agnes Parish only a few blocks from Uncle Jim’s house. Mayme was Les’s aunt on his mother’s side and her building was where many of the Millerick cousins (especially the newlyweds) lived during the Depression so they could get their feet back under them financially.
Les was a thick-set farm boy--5’9” and 200 lbs., with blue eyes and brown hair. His Millerick cousins all remembered him as having a heart of gold and that he greeted everyone with a warm, open, and genuine smile. His grandsons remembered him for his love of gardening and poker and for his willingness to get down on the floor and play marbles with them.
Les had moved to San Francisco with his sisters in 1917. In the City, he took a job as a compositor/ typesetter for his uncle William Millerick. William was a printer who owned his own bookbinding company. Les and Catherine were drawn together by their shared loss of parents, heightened in part by their mothers’ sharing of the name Ellen. They married on September 16, 1928, at St. Agnes Church. The best man was Clarence (Brick) Doyle and the maid of honor was Madeline Bennett.
Catherine moved into Les’s apartment at 1174 Sacramento Street, on the east slope of Nob Hill. Shortly after they married, the Depression hit and Les lost his job when the print shop closed. Luckily, he was not out of work long as he got a job as a gripman on the California Street Cable Car. He had worked as a streetcar conductor in 1920 and had some friends still in the business who helped him get the gripman job. Years later, Catherine would tell the story that she had gone to St. Brigid’s Church and prayed before the statue of Our Lady of Dolors for him to get a job and that she promised to name their daughter Dolores if her prayers were answered. They were and she did. Her memory must have been off, though, because he got the job almost a year before she got pregnant.
Among Catherine and Les’s best friends were Mabel and Augie Mullers. Augie was a taxi driver and chauffer (later a truck driver) who had worked in the 1920s with Lester’s brother-in-law Arnold “Trigger” O’Larte. They had cocktail hour together (“Vodka tonics, all around!”) and played cards weekly. They spent summers together up the River.
In 1930, they moved to 1446 Jackson Street, near Hyde, in St. Brigid’s Parish. On October 1, 1930, their only daughter Dolores was born at St. Mary’s Hospital. Another baby was born on the same day in the same hospital room, to an unwed mother who refused to look at or hold him. When Mabel and Augie visited Catherine, they were touched and adopted the boy, naming him Bob. Dolores and Bob were raised like siblings. That would be the closest Dolores would have to a sibling. After the birth, Catherine and Les were informed that Catherine had a “tipped uterus” which would cause difficulty with getting pregnant in the future and that it would require surgery to resolve. Given the financial situation of the time and the risks of the surgery, they chose not to fix the problem.
Two years later, they moved into Mayme Comisky’s big apartment building at 301 Hugo Street on the corner of 4th Avenue, near Kezar Stadium, where they were back in St. Agnes Parish only a few blocks from Uncle Jim’s house. Mayme was Les’s aunt on his mother’s side and her building was where many of the Millerick cousins (especially the newlyweds) lived during the Depression so they could get their feet back under them financially.
In 1935, they moved back to St. Brigid’s Parish to the place Dolores considered her home—1229 Vallejo Street. Catherine had friends in the neighborhood, including Helen DePalma—the Italian woman who lived upstairs who taught her to make spaghetti gravy. (Kevin still uses the same recipe.) The neighborhood had two theatres and the family would go to the movies twice a week, Dolores often riding on Les’s shoulders. They also liked St. Brigid’s community and looked forward to Dolores attending that school the following fall. Also, her uncle Jim had died the year before and Cathering felt less of a tie to the St. Agnes neighborhood.
In 1942, Les was drafted but was rated 4-H (“registrant exempted because of hardship to dependents”). He took leave from MUNI to serve as a firefighter in the Naval dry docks at Hunters Point. Augie had convinced him it would be easier on him physically than his job as a gripman, but he hated being in the holds of the ships. In June of 1944, he underwent surgery for a second hernia (the first was four years earlier), as well as for varicose veins in his right leg. He had developed phlebitis from his many years of stepping on the cable car brake. That December, he was released from service to the Navy and went back to MUNI, but now as a janitor.
In 1942, Les was drafted but was rated 4-H (“registrant exempted because of hardship to dependents”). He took leave from MUNI to serve as a firefighter in the Naval dry docks at Hunters Point. Augie had convinced him it would be easier on him physically than his job as a gripman, but he hated being in the holds of the ships. In June of 1944, he underwent surgery for a second hernia (the first was four years earlier), as well as for varicose veins in his right leg. He had developed phlebitis from his many years of stepping on the cable car brake. That December, he was released from service to the Navy and went back to MUNI, but now as a janitor.
After renting for years, Les and Catherine bought the house at 386 Capistrano, in Corpus Christi Parish. (The area was known as Mission Terrace back then, but is now known as Balboa Park.) Les’s father had passed away in 1941 and he and his sister decided to sell the Ranch. They stayed on Vallejo Street until Dolores graduated from St. Brigid’s High School. Corpus Christi was near City College where Dolores would be attending that the fall. Les switched his janitor shift to the nearby Car Barn on San Jose and Geneva where he worked sweeping up the brick dust of the building his Millerick uncles had built. He continued there until retiring in 1954. As an added bonus, the Mullers lived in the neighborhood.
Moving to a new part of town was easier on Lester than Catherine. Les loved his new house, especially liked having a garden to work. Being a member of the Knights of Columbus, he also had an immediate source of new friends. Catherine’s friends, on the other hand, were from the old neighborhood and associated with St. Brigid’s. She missed them and it was hard to make new friends. She did not have an automatic connection with Corpus Christi as Dolores was no longer in a school community that included the mothers. There were several neighbors who would become Catherine’s friends, though, including Mrs. Campi and Mrs. Donovan who lived on either side of the new house and Mrs. Wetland who lived across the back alley.
Catherine did enjoy the domestic life of a homeowner, though she would never admit it. She cleaned daily and spent a great deal of time in the kitchen, either cooking or hanging out the back window talking to the neighbors or to Les as he worked in the garden. Catherine had many, many mason jars that she used for canning and Les built 30 feet of cabinets in the basement for her to put up fruits. The best were her peaches, though her pickles were also good. And she made an outstanding rhubarb pie.
She hosted great Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at the new house. Her informal china from occupied Japan and formal Syracuse china are still in the family and someday her great granddaughters will use them. To this day, her grandson Kevin still uses the milk-glass serving plates and the crystal bowls for olives and pickles for holiday dinners like she did.
The mid-1950s were difficult on Catherine. In 1953, both her brother John and her sister Gertrude passed away. The next year, her daughter became pregnant and married. The newlyweds briefly lived with her, but soon found an apartment. The following year, her sister Juel died. Catherine felt more alone and her drinking started to get out of hand. Part of the reason for Les’s retirement was to help her. At her low point, she was seeing snakes coming out of the walls and Dolores stopped having her babysit David. Though she got it under control, she would struggle with drink for the rest of her life.
Catherine did like to laugh. She loved to watch Red Skelton and Art Carney. She was particularly fond of Ish Kabibble, a comedian on the Kay Kaiser Komedy Hour. Another joy in life began in the early 1950s when Les finally bought a car. Catherine never learned to drive, but she loved to take Sunday drives after mass with Les. They would go to Holy Cross Cemetery to “visit the family.” Sometimes, they would drive down the Peninsula to enjoy the sun and see the scenery on Highway 35. She was very disappointed when Les got older and decided to let his drivers’ license lapse.
Moving to a new part of town was easier on Lester than Catherine. Les loved his new house, especially liked having a garden to work. Being a member of the Knights of Columbus, he also had an immediate source of new friends. Catherine’s friends, on the other hand, were from the old neighborhood and associated with St. Brigid’s. She missed them and it was hard to make new friends. She did not have an automatic connection with Corpus Christi as Dolores was no longer in a school community that included the mothers. There were several neighbors who would become Catherine’s friends, though, including Mrs. Campi and Mrs. Donovan who lived on either side of the new house and Mrs. Wetland who lived across the back alley.
Catherine did enjoy the domestic life of a homeowner, though she would never admit it. She cleaned daily and spent a great deal of time in the kitchen, either cooking or hanging out the back window talking to the neighbors or to Les as he worked in the garden. Catherine had many, many mason jars that she used for canning and Les built 30 feet of cabinets in the basement for her to put up fruits. The best were her peaches, though her pickles were also good. And she made an outstanding rhubarb pie.
She hosted great Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at the new house. Her informal china from occupied Japan and formal Syracuse china are still in the family and someday her great granddaughters will use them. To this day, her grandson Kevin still uses the milk-glass serving plates and the crystal bowls for olives and pickles for holiday dinners like she did.
The mid-1950s were difficult on Catherine. In 1953, both her brother John and her sister Gertrude passed away. The next year, her daughter became pregnant and married. The newlyweds briefly lived with her, but soon found an apartment. The following year, her sister Juel died. Catherine felt more alone and her drinking started to get out of hand. Part of the reason for Les’s retirement was to help her. At her low point, she was seeing snakes coming out of the walls and Dolores stopped having her babysit David. Though she got it under control, she would struggle with drink for the rest of her life.
Catherine did like to laugh. She loved to watch Red Skelton and Art Carney. She was particularly fond of Ish Kabibble, a comedian on the Kay Kaiser Komedy Hour. Another joy in life began in the early 1950s when Les finally bought a car. Catherine never learned to drive, but she loved to take Sunday drives after mass with Les. They would go to Holy Cross Cemetery to “visit the family.” Sometimes, they would drive down the Peninsula to enjoy the sun and see the scenery on Highway 35. She was very disappointed when Les got older and decided to let his drivers’ license lapse.
In early 1968, the doctors diagnosed Les with a rare form of leukemia. He lost weight as well as his hair due to chemotherapy. The disease spread rapidly, within six months, his suffering mercifully ended. On his deathbed, he told Dolores that he had probably spoiled Catherine, but that she needed taking care of. He died on July 31, 1968, at the age of 70. Catherine did not know what to do without him and would pass away in less than a year. Les had wanted to be buried in Rio Vista with his parents, but Catherine said it was too hot and too far for her to visit. She buried him with her parents in the Silk plot at Holy Cross.
The other big struggle Catherine had was with her weight. At 5’7’, she was a tall woman for the time and so she was not seen as overweight until later in life. She loved her sweets, especially hard candies. She would snack while cleaning the house. Her favorite was bread and butter with sugar sprinkled on it. She was also known to get up in the middle of the night and fry up leftover spaghetti. By the time she was in her late 50s, Catherine had been diagnosed with diabetes. She tried cutting back on her snacking and replaced her hard candies with black licorice and diabetic candies—which her grandsons often ate, much to her chagrin. No matter where she tried to hide them (and she was a very accomplished stasher), her grandsons would always find them, munching them even though they didn’t like the taste. Catherine finally just gave up, returning the candy dish back to the end table. After Les got sick, she stopped being careful. Losing her lodestone and protector, she rapidly lost interest in everything. Her diet regime was first on the list to go. The black licorice was still prominently displayed, but the family knew she returned to her favorite sweets.
The other big struggle Catherine had was with her weight. At 5’7’, she was a tall woman for the time and so she was not seen as overweight until later in life. She loved her sweets, especially hard candies. She would snack while cleaning the house. Her favorite was bread and butter with sugar sprinkled on it. She was also known to get up in the middle of the night and fry up leftover spaghetti. By the time she was in her late 50s, Catherine had been diagnosed with diabetes. She tried cutting back on her snacking and replaced her hard candies with black licorice and diabetic candies—which her grandsons often ate, much to her chagrin. No matter where she tried to hide them (and she was a very accomplished stasher), her grandsons would always find them, munching them even though they didn’t like the taste. Catherine finally just gave up, returning the candy dish back to the end table. After Les got sick, she stopped being careful. Losing her lodestone and protector, she rapidly lost interest in everything. Her diet regime was first on the list to go. The black licorice was still prominently displayed, but the family knew she returned to her favorite sweets.
In the winter of 1968, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, necessitating a radical mastectomy. Convalescing in her daughter’s house, she soaked her feet and played with her grandchildren. One day, Dolores noticed that Catherine’s left foot was discolored. Her husband was out of town, she had a newborn baby, and another child with the mumps, but she dropped everything and rushed Catherine to St. Mary’s Hospital. With the diabetes out of control, her left foot had become gangrenous. A succession of surgeries ensued, taking first two toes, then half the foot, followed by the rest of the foot, and finally the lower leg. Between the surgeries, she returned to Dolores’ house to recuperate and enjoy her grandchildren. But the damage was done.
When losing half the leg turned out not to be enough to halt the progress of the gangrene, Catherine finally relented to the disease taking its course and opted for no further surgeries. (It turned out later that the exact same thing had happened to her great uncle William Molloy, who had died from gangrene after having his leg amputated in 1910.) Dolores was distraught, but acquiesced to Catherine’s wishes. Catherine died on June 18, 1969. She was buried in the Silk plot in Colma, with her parents and Les.
In early 1968, the doctors diagnosed Les with a rare form of leukemia. He lost weight as well as his hair due to chemotherapy. The disease spread rapidly, within six months, his suffering mercifully ended. On his deathbed, he told Dolores that he had probably spoiled Catherine, but that she needed taking care of. He died on July 31, 1968, at the age of 70. Catherine did not know what to do without him and would pass away in less than a year. Les had wanted to be buried in Rio Vista with his parents, but Catherine said it was too hot and too far for her to visit. She buried him with her parents in the Silk plot at Holy Cross.
Deep down, Catherine was a loving caring person whose gruff exterior inadequately hid it from everyone that knew her intimately. Her grandsons remembered Catherine as an often gregarious and basically good person who had a sharp sense of humor. Dolores remembered her as woman who had a difficult life, but who loved her husband greatly and who was loved in turn. She lived long enough to hold her baby granddaughter Laura, but she could not stay away any longer from the love of her life. Laura lives in the house on Capistrano and knows that Catherine and Les watch over her.