Cathy Carr

Cathy CARR Cathleen Marie Carr died Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, surrounded by those she loved. The cause was complications from a dementia that she had suffered for more than 10 years. She was 65. A longtime resident of Vashon Island, Cathy was a founding member of the board of Vashon Household, the island's non-profit housing agency, and also served on the board of the Pike Place Market Public Development Authority during the 1980s. She was president of Cathleen Carr Associates (CCA, Inc.), a consulting firm that offered project management and financial planning services to municipal and tribal governments and private clients throughout Washington. At CCA she served as project manager for construction and renovation of three Vashon schools. Prior to launching CCA in 1984 she served two years as president of Gibson/Carr, which provided economic consulting services to public clients. During the 1970s Cathy held a number of positions with the City of Seattle, including Director of Economic Development, and had also served as an economic analyst with the Seattle-King County Economic Development Council. She earned a BA in finance and accounting and an MBA in economics from the University of Washington, and was an accomplished skier, hiker, climber, gardener, beekeeper, cook, knitter, weaver and seamstress. She did much of the carpentry and electrical work on the Vashon house that she and her father built for her, and she also was a pretty fair shade tree mechanic, once rebuilding the engine of her 1967 MGB. The achievement of which she was perhaps most proud, however, was the design and implementation of a scouting program for the children of a village in Guatamala, where she spent two summers as part of the student ministry program at University Presbyterian Church. Cathy was born in Findlay, Ohio on Jan. 13, 1946 and spent her growing up years in Ohio and Alaska. She was the daughter of longtime Vashon residents David and Catharine Carr. She leaves behind her husband of 30 years, Michael Sweeney in Seattle; her son Joe Carr Sweeney in Topeka, KS; and brother William D. Carr of Vashon. The family wishes to thank the Vashon team of Providence Hospice of Seattle, as well as the island's sisterhood of end-of-life caregivers, for the loving care and comfort they provided during Cathy's last days. A celebration of Cathy's life will be held Mar. 6 at 2 p.m. at Vashon United Methodist Church, 17928 Vashon Hwy SW on Vashon. The family suggest memorials to Vashon Household, P.O. Box 413, Vashon, WA 98070; or to the Alzheimer's Association., North Tower, 100 W. Harrison St. N-200, Seattle, WA 98119.