Obituary: Padilla, Catherine Anne
She was born April 1st, 1933 to Frank Dudas & Kathryn Roman Dudas, in Robertsdale, PA. She shared her childhood alongside her 10 siblings- 3 brothers and 7 sisters.
Paul (Jane) Dudas of Erie, PA, Anne Luba, Teresa (Bob) King, Pauline Zenns of Rochester, NY, Elizabeth Dudas of Nashville, TN, and sister-in-law Marilyn Dudas of Union City, PA.
In her later years, she was blessed to return to the East Coast for several summer road-trips with her sister Elizabeth to visit their siblings, and always spoke of what an enjoyable, fun, hilarious and overall wonderful time they had doing so.
Catherine was a devoted woman of the Catholic faith; her conviction was at the center of her life until her passing and she was a proud member of Sacred Heart Parish (and owner of countless Rosaries as it has now been discovered).
In addition, Catherine enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1950, and was a proud Veteran who taught her family to value and honor the brave men and women who serve in the Armed Forces.
She was blessed with five children- Russell E. Burress, Kim Rose (James) Chism, Antony R. Burress, Karen A. Burress, and Paula K. Padilla.
A dedicated single mother, she often worked three jobs at various times, including Secretary for the State of California Contractor Licensing School, and Legal Secretary for a private practice Attorney.
Once she moved to Spokane in 1990, Katie worked as a receptionist for Baker Brothers Construction and NABI Bio- medical.
But none of these jobs gave her as much pleasure as did volunteering for the Spokane Police Department from 2005 until her passing, receiving 29 Certificates of Appreciation for Service from SPD and donating over 8,000 hours of her time to the department and community.
She took great pride in her post at City Hall, working crowd control at local events, parades, assorted athletic functions and most of all-her participation in S.W.A.T.
officer training activities.
Katie loved to talk and laugh about her experiences with SPD and the many friendships and connections she formed; the time spent volunteering for the department helped enrich the later years of her life, renewed her spirit, kept her young, flirtatious and spunky until her last days- She was a Firecracker!
She had several nicknames, but “Grandma Catherine” and “Gramma-Great” were her favorites.
Grandma Catherine provided endless love, understanding, refuge, and had confidence in all of her nine grandchildren and their spouses (she also provided them with Nut Rolls, Fudge, Clouds and Peppermint Bark every Christmas as any terrific Grandmother would) and as Gramma- Great, she kept her 14 great-grandchildren near to her heart, and cherished the precious times she spent with each of them- and they so adored their Gramma-Great!
Catherine was preceded in death by her beloved Son Antony R. Burress, both her parents as above named, Brothers Frank and John Dudas, and Sisters Helen Felege, Veronica Archacki, and Mary Dudas.
Thank you to Sacred Heart Medical Center, ICU & 5 North, as well as Veterans Medical Center ER & ICU for your excellent, compassionate care during her illness.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, August 19th, at 1:00 pm, at Sacred Heart Parish 219 E. Rockwood BLVD, Spokane, WA 99202, followed by Military Honors Burial, 3:00 pm, at Washington State Veterans Cemetery, Medical Lake located at 21702 W. Espanola Rd., Medical Lake, WA 99022.