Catherine A. Smith

CATHERINE A. SMITH MUSCATINE, Iowa - Catherine A. Smith, 79, of Muscatine, died on April 13, 2011, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics following a brief illness. Funeral Service will be at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, April 18, 2011, at the St. Mary Church. The Reverend Jason Crossen will officiate. An Honorary casket bearer will be Jeffery Smith. Casket bearers will be Sam Miller, Richard Snyder, Tom Brehmer, Jon Duesman, Chris Duesman, Mike Duesman, Patrick Duesman, and Andy Carlson. Burial will take place in Greenwood Cemetery. A luncheon will be held at Gannon Hall following the committal service at the cemetery. Visitation will be from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 17, 2011, at the Ralph J. Wittich-Riley-Freers Funeral Home with a Rosary Prayer Service to be held at 4 p.m. Memorials may be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Association or the donor's charity of choice. Catherine was born on May 4, 1931, in Humphrey, Nebraska, daughter of Victor and Monica Lubischer Duesman. She attended Duchesne College in Omaha, Nebraska, for two years, followed by a year's study to become a registered medical technician. She then worked at Bishop Clarkson Ho...[more]

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tal in Omaha, where she met her future husband. She married Claire L. Smith on August 22, 1953, in Humphrey. She then worked at the Veteran's Hospital in Iowa City, where he was attending graduate school, until the arrival of their first child. She was a member of Ss. Mary and Mathias Parish and the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Joan of Arc Chapter 524. She served a term on the Catholic Religious Education Board during its early years and taught Religious Education courses for several years. She enjoyed exercising at the Muscatine Y, but her greatest passion was sewing and quilting, and she never tired of going to what her family referred to as her second home, Neal's Sewing Center. Those left to honor her memory include her husband, Claire L. Smith of Muscatine; two sons, Thomas Smith and wife, Darlene, of Eldridge, and John Smith and wife, Lori, of Orlando, Florida; two daughters, Patricia Smith and husband, Richard Snyder, of Orlando, Florida, and Monica Brehmer and husband, Tom, of Muscatine; five grandchildren, Jeffery Smith, Amber Miller, Karli Smith, Krista Smith, and Kyle Smith; three great-grandchildren, Travis Miller, Lucas Miller, and Arabella Miller; three brothers, Paul Duesman of Humphrey, Nebraska, Dr. James Duesman of Rock Island, Illinois, and William Duesman of Hopkins, Minnesota; and one sister, Mary Brockhaus of Columbus, Nebraska. She was preceded in death by her parents.