Catherine "Cathi" Ann Long

Cathi Long, 75, of Horseshoe Bay, Texas passed away April 15, 2022. Those who knew Cathi, even briefly, were touched by her joyful nature and colorful personality. Cathi was born to Graden and Bettina Clendennen in 1947 in Dallas, Texas. She is survived by her daughter, Lindie Walters; grandchildren, Kayla Farnsworth, Cheyenne Walters, and Dylan Walters; nephew, Blake Stevenson, niece, Caryn Stevenson; sister, Pam Stevenson; and stepsiblings, Sheila Dewald and Steven Rogers. She also leaves behind two great-grandchildren, and great nieces, great nephews, extended family members and long-time friends. Cathi is preceded in death by her parents, husband, Wayne Wunderlich, stepfather, Jim Rogers, and stepsister, Beverly Murray.

Cathi was blessed to grow up in Irving, Texas in a happy family, and she brought her love for style, design, and fashion into every phase of her life. She loved the Texas Hill Country where grandparents, Claud and Maggie Clendennen owned a fishing camp on Lake Buchanan. Summers were filled with rich childhood memories. She could skin a mess of catfish or waterski without breaking a fingernail. After High School she became Miss Irving, participated in the Miss Texas pageant, and went to Kilgore Junior college to be a one of the legendary Kilgore Rangerettes. She briefly worked for American Airlines, loved to travel, and throughout her life she found her way to exotic locations. Eventually she found her way into the fashion industry as a buyer for high-end clothing boutiques in Dallas. Her taste for the unusual and colorful always spilled into her wardrobe and interior designs.

When Cathi moved to Austin to live next door to her sister and family in the 90s, she joined their family business and became a mortgage loan officer, staging events for realtors, builders, and other professionals to meet and work together. One year the Texas Mortgage Professionals Association held an annual conference in Cabo, St. Lucas, where she managed to win the bill fishing tournament, despite the competition, in her bikini. She probably didn’t break a nail.

When she and her sister’s family moved to Marble Falls in 2020, they bought a family compound where two old lake houses were joined by a breezeway. She enjoyed the majestic trees, created beautiful flower gardens, kayaked, and enjoyed life on the lake. Although Cathi suffered from mercury poisoning and Chronic Fatigue, both misunderstood and ongoing health battles that forced her to sometimes isolate to avoid toxic chemical exposures, she always kept a bright outlook. When you walked into her home, you were dazzled with brightly painted walls and bold décor. She said it was impossible to be depressed if you chose not to be. When their mother suffered a massive heart attack and could no longer live alone, the family built an apartment for her to live next to them, and Cathi spent the next five years sharing her time and joyful spirit with her mother before she passed away. It was always a highlight to have her grandchildren come for visits. Later, she married Wayne Wunderlich and lived near Fredericksburg until his death. She devoted herself to life on the ranch with him, tending the horses, longhorns, dogs and cats, and keeping up with the log cabin for visitors to the area.

Cathi was blessed to have friends for life. She was the life of the party, always gracious, generous, and kind. She never preached, but if you knew Cathi, you saw the face of Jesus, because she somehow glowed in the darkest of circumstances. The day she learned she had an aggressive and fast-growing brain tumor and had only three weeks to live, she laid in her hospital bed with one of her creations, a neon yellow and pink crocheted blanket doused with peppermint aromatherapy. Every doctor, every nurse, every aide, every friend, family member, chaplain or social worker who walked into that room took a deep breath and felt her joy. It was a choice, she reminded them all. They were blessed by her peaceful spirit and her determination to describe where she was headed as “the best adventure of all”.

The day she returned to her home in Horseshoe Bay, she was no longer able to sit or walk. As her family and close friends gathered around her to care for her, she quickly realized she was too weak to endure radiation and chemo to fight for more time on earth. So, in typical Cathi form, she instructed them to call hospice and “Get this show on the road”. From her bed, she orchestrated a living celebration of life. Many of her family and friends came to say goodbye and spent time sitting with her, listening to her carefully chosen parting gifts: words of encouragement and instructions for them. Friends from church brought in food, and friends from high school, college and all along the way came quickly- to laugh and reminisce with her. She told her entourage: “I’ll get the party started.” She never mentioned pain, she never complained.

The day before she passed on, she said, “I’ll soon get to be with the yellow people.” If you knew Cathi, you knew that was a happy place where angelic beings glowed in neon yellow. The next day she pulled us close and said, “I think it’s going to be magenta.” We knew she was in the presence of the Holy Spirit. That evening just before she passed away peacefully, we said the 23rd Psalm aloud and she took two deep breaths. The last words she heard on earth: “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” She is now soaring and at rest, enjoying the greatest miracle of all, the gift of eternal life.

A celebration of her life (location to be announced) will be held Saturday, August 20, 2022.

Online guest registry may be signed at www.PutnamCares.com.

 Cathi’s care has been entrusted to Putnam Funeral Home and Crematory, 145 Texas Avenue, Kingsland, Texas 78639. 325-388-0008