A6 THE SPOKESMAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2022
Iron
Continued from A1
She ran the medical office in addi-
tion to raising the children. She en-
joyed working alongside her husband
and watching how he treated his pa-
tients.
“He really cared about them,” said
Catherine. “He loved children and they
loved him.”
Dick also loved Catherine. He
looked out for her like a husband and
doctor would. When she was in her
60s, a scan showed her bone density
was below average, a condition called
osteopenia.
Dick suggested she start some
strength training, in order to hold off
osteoporosis and remain upright and
healthy.
They both started working with
Dean Munsey, a trainer at Emergency
Physical Therapy in Redmond. Mun-
sey had competed in powerlifting
events across the West for decades. He
noticed right away that Catherine had
good form and was working hard to
build strength. He thought training
for a competition might give her extra
incentive to work hard and keep show-
ing up.
“She says she’s not competitive?”
said Munsey. “She’s very competitive.”
It took months to win her over.
The final hurdle was convincing her
to wear a form-fitting singlet, the re-
quired outfit for all weightlifting com-
petitions.
“It is not flattering at all,” said
Kuehn.
But the competitions were. Kuehn
was soon winning titles for her age
group, then setting world records. She
didn’t brag about it — so her husband
did it for her.
“He’d introduce me to people as ‘My
wife, the world record holder,’” Cather-
ine recalled.
Dick died in August 2021 of com-
plications of heart disease and kid-
ney failure. Catherine cared for him
through his last days. During the pan-
demic she dared not leave home — not
even to lift weights. She had to avoid
COVID at all costs.
“If I brought it back to him, he
would have died on the spot, he was so
weak,” she said.
It was a difficult stretch of time and
losing her husband made it much
more so. But Kuehn said there was
no doubt that she’d come back to the
weight room.
“I didn’t want to get all stooped,” she
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Trainer, Dean Munsey, from left, works with Peggy Neil of Bend and Catherine Kuehn of Redmond at Emergence Physical Therapy in Redmond.
said. “Plus, I missed it.”
Munsey said she has all of her
strength back and then some. She
trains with a friend, Peggy Neil, who is
a decade her junior but works hard to
keep up. Adrian Robles practices with
them as well. Robles has cerebral palsy
and uses resistance training to build
his upper body strength.
“He’s the real star,” said Kuehn.
All three are part of a Central Ore-
gon team heading to Reno this week-
end, hoping to bring back titles and
world records.
“Oh, that’d just be great,” said
Keuhn. “Can you imagine? Me? An-
other record?”
█
Reporter: ttrainor@redmondspokesman.com
Catherine Kuehn, 94, of Redmond
watches her weightlifting teammates
during training at Emergence Physical
Therapy in Redmond.
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin