Wednesday, July 8, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Obituary
SCHOLARSHIP: Festival
supports graduating
seniors in arts
Kathy Jean (Catterson) Levine
November 19, 1958 — June 19, 2020
Kathy Jean (Catterson)
Levine was born November
19, 1958, in Fortuna,
California.
She passed away June 19
in Sharp Grossmont Hospital,
La Mesa, California, at the
age of 61. Her medical team
had discovered a brain aneu-
rism and performed an aneu-
rism repair surgery, which
seemed very successful but
ended in a massive stroke
that took her life.
Kathy, with her husband
Dennis Levine, resided in
El Cajon, California. They
moved from Central Oregon
in 2016 to be closer to their
children.
Kathy had a loving sign-
off which she used ending
every conversation on the
phone, every text message,
every time she left or said
goodbye. Many can hear her
saying this sincerely meant
sign-off, <Luv Ya!=
Kathy was a cheerful,
giving, helpful, kind, and
dedicated person. She had
an infectious sense of humor
and could keep you laughing
for hours. She loved to sing.
As a child you could hear
her beautiful voice louder
than any other in church.
Kathy made singing part of
everything.
Some may wonder, <What
song can I use for this event?=
This comes from Kathy9s
influence in your life. She
sang <Daddy9s Hands= at
her stepfather9s funeral and
<Well Done= at her mother9s
funeral. Many share fond
memories of getting together
with her and Dennis that
usually included singing or
karaoke. She shared a text to
a family member the morn-
ing of her aneurism surgery.
It said, <They are coming to
take me away to the funny
farm.= Of course, the family
member knew immediately it
was a funny song they shared
together as children.
Recently Kathy shared
her musical gifts at St. Louise
De Marillac Catholic Church
Saturday evening mass.
Her love for all chil-
dren was never clearer
than when she would teach
sign language to them in
small groups at church or
Sunday school. A favorite
was <Silent Night= and she
would have children sign this
at Christmas Mass and there
wouldn9t be a dry eye in the
church.
If you needed something,
anything, Kathy could fig-
ure it out and help solve the
problem or situation. She
wouldn9t stop with just an
idea; she would always be
there to physically help, too.
She would provide this favor
to all.
Along with her helpful-
ness she was also giving. She
gladly made sure people had
the things they needed. One
of the most recent acts of
giving was her care for her
mother during her long ill-
ness with cancer. She made
sure she had the right bed,
the right clothes, the right
doctors, and she didn9t
stop. These are the
things Kathy would do
for you, too.
Kathy was a dedi-
cated restaurant cook,
school bus driver, city
bus driver and driv-
er9s education teacher.
This was her last
career in Redmond.
Kathy was one of the
best drivers. She could
drive buses, trucks or
whatever without fear.
She knew the laws and she
understood the mechanics
of dealing with the forces
behind big rigs. To most peo-
ple this is very impressive.
On November 13, 1976,
Kathy married the love of
her life, Dennis Levine.
They were young and had
mountains to climb. They
stuck together through thick
and thin and celebrated
nearly 44 years of marriage.
From this loving marriage
came two sons, Clint (wife
Lauren) and Nicholas (wife
Janeth). Their grandchildren
are Antonio, Cristina, Nestor,
Christian, Paulino, Armando
and Jonathon; and one great-
granddaughter, Ceci. Kathy
loved her family and showed
them by her continued open
door and willingness to have
everyone be part of her life.
Kathy is survived by her
brothers, Tym Catterson
(Ursula) and Jason
Dagenhardt (Judy) and
nephew Adam, sisters Teresa
Drews and Lynn Dagenhardt,
niece Keylee and nephew
Loren. Loving in-laws,
nieces, nephews, cousins,
and host of long-time friends
also survive her.
Her father Vern Catterson
and Mother Barbara
Marshall, whom she cared
for in the last days of her life,
preceded Kathy in death.
A comforting thought for
all who loved Kathy is that
when she was told she had
a serious, potentially deadly
aneurism, she comforted all
saying she was calm and at
peace with everything. She
was not worried. This is the
peace of God that surpasses
all understanding. She gave
encouragement even when
she should have been receiv-
ing encouragement.
Her final request in life
was to be an organ donor.
The gift of life to others is
about as charitable of a gift
any human can give. To date
two people have been saved
by her donations for trans-
plant surgery. Because of her
unselfish life she is still giv-
ing even after she has left us.
Kathy will be deeply missed
and, Kathy, from all who
Continued from page 3
knew you: <Luv Ya!=
In lie u o f flo we rs
please consider a donation
to: Interim 3 The Gift of
Hospice, 5625 Ruffin Rd.,
Ste. 110, San Diego, CA,
92123.
programming for all stu-
dents, unique to most
schools in Central Oregon
and beyond.
Maddison Anderson has
worked in visual arts and
illustration and graduated as
one of the valedictorians for
the class of 2020. Anderson
also contributed a painted
guitar to this year9s SFF My
Own Two Hands art auction.
Daniel Schmidt, owner of
Dan Schmidt Productions,
helped develop an alpine
ski building class at Sisters
High School, has been key
to the Americana Luthier
program in guitar building
for the past several years,
and worked in digital arts
creating numerous videos
throughout his high school
career, including a compre-
hensive introduction for the
Sisters High School gradua-
tion ceremony.
Josie Aylor, an award-
winning artist, has developed
a keen sense and unique
perspective of ceramic arts
and shines working in many
mediums.
Hallie Schwartz partici-
pated in Americana Project
music the last two years and
is a strong singer and inter-
preter of songs.
Chloe Gold, an accom-
plished songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist, was
the recording coordina-
tor for the recent release of
<Playing to Grow,= a video
compilation of Americana
Project songs and an effec-
tive leader in the Americana
Project program. Mitchell
Griffin has studied digi-
tal photography, has an
impressive portfolio and
plans to continue to pursue
his passion in photographic
arts.
Sisters Folk Festival
intends for the award
resources to be used in these
students9 pursuit of creativ-
ity, critical thinking, and
problem-solving skills that
they can apply to the chal-
lenges facing the world
today.
For more information on
the GRO scholarship pro-
gram, visit http://shs.ssd6.
org/sistersgro/.
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Bruce Springsteen
Sat., July 18, 8 p.m.
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(Ticket quantity limited)
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541-549-6114
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