"It was a pleasure having Cathryn as a neighbor. She dearly loved her home and her yard. We usually met her when she was carefully trimming her shrubbery. She was always interested in our lives, especially our travels which would evoke memories of her visits to many places. When we started spending winters in Arizona, she produced a stack of old Arizona Highways for us to peruse. She was most proud of her two granddaughters, whose poise and educational achievements pleased her immensely. Always independent, in the last year when we would ask how she was, she would cheerfully reply "I'm still here." We had hoped to hear that answer for many more years. When we return to Madison we will feel the emptiness in our neighborhood. She cannot be replaced but she will be remembered. Paul Menzel Nancy Jesse "
In loving memory of
Cathryn Pettersen Montgomery
July 4, 1925 - February 10, 2017
MADISON-Cathryn Sayda Pettersen Montgomery passed away unexpectedly on Friday, February 10, 2017, at UnityPoint Health - Meriter at the age of 91 years, 7 months, 7 days. Born on the Fourth of July 1925 in Madison, Wisconsin, she was the daughter of Leon William Pettersen and Sayda Seybold Pettersen. Her father was the founder and president of Pettersen's Inc., a floor covering business, later known as Pettersen's Carpetland, and her mother was the Most Worthy Grand Matron, General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star 1967-1970.
Cathryn was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri; and Madison West High School, Class of 1942. She married Eugene Stevens Montgomery on May 21, 1949, at the then First Methodist Episcopal Church, East Dayton Street and Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin.
Cathryn was a charter member of Chapter CU, P.E.O. Sisterhood, Worthington, Ohio; a past president of the University of Wisconsin Alumni Club of Columbus, Ohio; and a past president of the Stephens College Alumnae Club of Columbus, Ohio. She was a past president of the Kappa Alpha Theta Mothers' Club, Alpha Gamma Chapter, The Ohio State University; a former council member of Job's Daughters Bethel #37, Worthington, Ohio; a member of Worthington Women's Club, Worthington, Ohio; a 50-year member of Monona Chapter No. 5, Order of the Eastern Star, Madison, Wisconsin; and a lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church, Madison, Wisconsin. She enjoyed extensive traveling both foreign and domestic and was an avid photographer.
She is survived by her husband; her daughter, Cathryn Suzanne Montgomery (John) Leslie of Falls Church, Virginia; and her son, Ronald Pettersen (Sharon) Montgomery, and granddaughters, Veronica Ann Montgomery and Megan Marie Montgomery, of Carrollton, Texas.
The funeral service will be held at 12 NOON on Friday, February 24, 2017 at the First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison with Reverend Tina Lang officiating. Family will greet friends after 10 a.m. until the time of service. Entombment will follow in Forest Hill Mausoleum.
Please share your memories of Cathryn.
Cress Funeral Home
3610 Speedway Road Madison
608-238-3434