Catherine (Cathie) Louise Buck Montoro

She is survived by her beloved husband of 52 years, Dr. Martin Montoro; daughter Marta of Rockville, MD; son Felipe and daughter-in-law Amanda of San Jose, CA; cherished grandchildren Mari and Diego; brothers Tom Buck (Nancy), John Quinley (Connie), several nieces and nephews, and many other family members and friends across the U.S. and Spain. She was predeceased by her parents, George Buck and Sally and John Quinley.

Always a natural teacher, Cathie grew up Los Angeles and attended the University of Southern California. She later received a M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Michigan. It was there that she met the love of her life, Martin, a Spanish medical student.

In 1974 she and Martin began their married life together in a very small rural town in northern Spain, Huerta de Arriba - memories of which she carried forever and later enjoyed writing about; their daughter was also born there. They later returned to Los Angeles where their son was born, and she taught English as a Second Language at Glendale Community College for several years.

She later taught Spanish at Toll Middle School and Hoover High School. Throughout her teaching career, she received several awards and official recognition, notably the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education in 2001 (which she used to increase higher education opportunities for native Spanish-speaking students) and Teacher of the Year. She also passed the National Spanish Exam of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese on the first attempt, and always went above and beyond for her students.

She was a wonderful cook and hostess, and enjoyed gardening, architecture, music, literature, travel, and writing. In retirement, she and Martin relocated from Glendale to San Jose, CA, because above all she valued spending time with her family, especially being 'Abuela' and watching her grandchildren grow up.

Building on her commitment to education and providing opportunities for all children, donations in her memory may be made to:
-Children Incorporated
https://dms.childrenincorporated.org/Donate/Fund

-Children International
https://www.children.org/make-a-difference/donate

Burial will be private and services will be announced at a later date.