Catherine Lewis Hume

Catherine Lewis Hume
(1928-2025)
Catherine Lewis Hume, musician, psychologist, mother of six, and beloved community member, died peacefully in Los Angeles on November 17, 2025. She was 96.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1928, Catherine grew up during the Depression and World War II. After her father's death when she was still an infant, she was raised by her mother Kate Porter Lewis, who moved the family to Chapel Hill and later to New York to be near her older brothers when they returned on leave from Europe during WWII.
Catherine learned to play the flute at a young age when she was taught by an M.A. candidate at UNC who agreed to give her lessons as part of his room and board in the family home in Chapel Hill. As a high school student in New York, she auditioned for and was accepted into Juilliard's pre-college program in 1943, then into its five-year Bachelor of Science degree, graduating in 1951 as a Flute major. While there she studied flute with Arthur Lora, William Kincaid, and Julius Baker.
During her years there, she held the coveted chair of First Flute at Juilliard, an honor incredibly rare for a woman in those days, confirming her place among the finest emerging flutists in the country. Yet at mid-century, women were only beginning to gain equal footing in national symphony orchestras, and her future musical path would take a different turn.
In 1953 she married David D. Hume, who would become Headmaster of Saint David's School in Manhattan. Together they raised six children in New York City living above the school for the next 37 years. Early on, she taught flute at Dalton School, gave private lessons in the family apartment, and welcomed generations of Saint David's teachers, students, and families into her home. Her gracious presence helped define the school's warm, civilized tone throughout her husband's tenure as Head of School.
In the 1970s, with her children approaching adulthood, Catherine returned to graduate school, earning a master's in education- School Psychology from the City College of New York (CUNY), in 1971. She then worked at the Educational Records Bureau and later as School Psychologist for the Nightingale-Bamford School, where she supported students with quiet insight and expertise.
After David's retirement in 1990, the couple moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where they lived surrounded by books, art, and music. They studied Italian and for a number of years traveled regularly to Italy, seeking out its artistic treasures and spiritual inspiration. For fifty summers, their home in Salem, Connecticut was a gathering place for family and friends, where they sailed the Connecticut River and beyond, raised their children, and built lifelong friendships.
After David's passing in 2015, Catherine moved to Hollenbeck Palms in Los Angeles, where she led a Saturday Film Series well into her nineties - choosing the films, giving introductions, and guiding spirited discussion afterward. She also served as a reader during weekly chapels, and she remained intellectually curious, socially engaged, and deeply thoughtful throughout her life.
Catherine is survived by her children and their partners, Christopher Hume and Anna Lei, Adam Hume and Laura Toole, Benjamin Hume, Charity Hume and Don Neill, Amity and Warren Grimes, and Noah Hume and Mani Simmons, and five grandchildren, Aaron Hume, Grace and Faith Grimes, Leo Neill and Anella Hume.