Catherine C. Barrett

1939 - 2022

Barrett, Catherine C. (Cathy)

October 12, 1939 - April 29, 2022

Cathy is survived by her husband Harrison (Harry), daughter Melinda Thomas (Mindy) and her two grandsons Justin and Dylan Thomas; and by her two siblings, Michael Craddock, and Mary Rutherford. She was predeceased by her son David Barrett.

Cathy graduated from Roanoke Catholic High School in 1957 and she graduated from Nazareth College in Nazareth, Kentucky with a degree in business. In December 1959 Cathy married Harry and soon thereafter they moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Their son David was born in 1962 and in 1969 they adopted a daughter, Melinda (Mindy).

In 1974 the family moved to Tucson, where Harry became a professor at the University of Arizona -a position he held for 43 years. During that time Cathy held a variety of professional and philanthropic positions. She was the editor of the "Journal of the Optical Society of America." During a time when the internet did not exist, and personal computers were very unreliable - she handled difficulties with the help of her assistant Jane Lockwood, and they turned out a very professional journal every month.

Philanthropically, Cathy traveled to Belize to build a house for an elderly woman and to Belarus to provide aid to the children of Chernobyl. As usual, Cathy made everyone feel like family. For example: in Belarus she stayed with a family where the mother had cancer but could not get the medicine she needed. When Cathy got back to the United States, she got the medicine from the manufacturer, and she found someone who could deliver it to Belarus.

The Barrett family took full advantage of the U of A's sabbatical policy and they spent time in Germany, Ireland, the USSR, and North Carolina. For their stays in Germany and the Soviet Union everyone in the family learned to speak the language quite adequately. In Russia, Harry held his lectures in Russian; Cathy learned to shop in Russian stores; David once had occasion to be a translator from French to Russian and back again; and in Russia, even tiny Mindy - just two years old at the time - learned how to charm the Babushkas.

In the interval between sabbaticals the Barretts took up high altitude climbing. Their first Himalayan climb took them to a mountain peak called "Kalapathar" about 1,000 feet above the Everest base camp. Other high-altitude hikes included the Anna-Purna loop, the hike up to the Tiji Festival - very near the border with China. Some other hikes that were long but not very strenuous were the Coast-to-Coast route and the Cotswold's trail in England and the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

Music was also a big part of Cathy's life. She sang in the Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Tanglewood and Carnegie Hall among other venues.

When life became difficult for Cathy, Harry would read her some chapters of Erich Segal's' "Love Story" or some sonnets from Shakespeare. Harry's request is that each reader of this missive do the same for someone he or she loves.

A memorial mass for Cathy will be held at 10:00 a.m., June 18th at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 1800 North Camino Pio Decimo, Tucson, AZ 85715. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Casa Maria Soup Kitchen or to Primavera Foundation. Arrangements by Bring's