Catherine Lois Leavelle Lines
1928 -2024
| Catherine Lines, known to most as Katie, was a woman full of warmth, laughter, love and integrity. Born in Hemet, California on February 15, 1928, her journey ended on October 29th, 2024, in Long Beach, California. Her life was dedicated to her family, friends, community and church.
Katie’s early life was enjoyed mostly on a farm in New Mexico where, as a three-year-old, she had a habit of running away to explore wherever she could. She fed and chased chickens, helped plant the kitchen garden, skipped two grades at school, and loved to swap her homemade lunch for the burritos other kids had in their lunch bags at school. Staying home was never her first option.
This sense of adventure never left her, even after she settled down with husband Ralph in Long Beach, California to raise their four children. During these years she was often seen cheering for her son at drum and bugle corp events, timing at swim meets, or reserving seats at her daughter’s stage, dance and diving events. She joined charities becoming President of Las Hermanas, St. Mary’s Hospital Guild and many times entertained 150 people at a time, serving spaghetti dinners at her home to raise money to help these groups.
Katie continued her sense of adventure into retirement traveling the world, as she and Ralph enjoyed multiple trips to Europe, with Italy and France being her most beloved countries. She often had trouble though choosing between Paris and New York. Luckily her children and grandchildren were often privileged to join in on the trips to New York. Broadway called and everyone joined in viewing one to two plays a day while managing to also skate at Rockefeller Center, ride horse carriages through Central Park and be enticed by the best-known restaurants in town. Katie loved a big city!!!
As so often happens in life, time slows down and traveling becomes hard, but Katie and Ralph continued to be blessed. Their partnership in raising their family never wavered and were then being entertained attending all their grandchildren’s dance recitals, baseball and softball games, soccer matches, school shows and events, and skating competitions. With the help of the cell phone, all her great grandchildren’s accomplishments were still flowing to her and warming her heart.
Services will be held on November 23, at 10:00 a.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Long Beach, California.
|
