Catherine Nan Hoch

1932 - 2024

Catherine Nan Hoch
07/01/1932 - 06/21/2024
Catherine Nan Hoch (née Barter) died peacefully at her home in Los Altos on June 21, 2024, at 6:33am, with her son, Joe, her daughter, Helen, and her caregiver, Jenny, by her side.
Nan was born in Epsom, England, on July 1, 1932, to Sir Percy Barter (knighted in 1954) of Devon and Lady Diana Barter (Doris May Sheriff) of Middlesex. As an only child, she fell in love with reading, and could often be found up a tree in the garden of the family house, Trenant, with a book. Nan was seven when WWII began. Her mother, an avid gardener, created a wartime garden and raised chickens for eggs and meat (Nan would stress that they never ate her pet chicken, Hettie). Rationing, dashes to their cellar air raid shelter, and tuning into Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the radio became the norm. During the Blitz in 1940, Nan was evacuated to her two maternal great aunts, Lil and Rose, in the south; however, her parents remained in Sutton. Nan worried for their safety, particularly her father's, as his role as a civil servant included shifts standing on the roof of Whitehall scanning the City for fires from German bombing. The family house, Trenant, survived, but many houses on their street, The Highway, did not. Nan's generation is the last to have memories from this historic time.
After Victory in Europe, Nan attended Sherborne school for girls in Dorset. She recalled her time at Sherborne with fondness. Following Sherborne, Nan studied Classics at one of only two women's colleges at Oxford University, Lady Margaret Hall. Nan's Oxford days were among her happiest, mixing hard work with a lively social life that included punting on the river and attending fancy balls. She graduated with a First and headed to work.
Nan joined the typing pool at the Department of Health; she was quickly spotted as ambitious, talented and hard working. Soon, she was recruited by pioneer merchant banker, Siegmund Warburg (founder of SG Warburg) to be his Executive Assistant. When Kuhn Loeb & Co - the New York based investment bank where Siegmund and his brother were partners - needed someone top-notch, they invited Nan to relocate to New York. She happily did so, moving into the "London Terrace" dormitory (now a luxury apartment building) in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. She had invigorating work, a whirlwind social life and, even an engagement or two.
1956 brought Nan back to England and to parents who were missing their only child. Nan lived in London and became a private secretary to John Thomson, Chairman of Barclays Bank. She enjoyed this job tremendously and would sometimes join John and his wife at their country house, for work and tea in the garden.
In 1960, Nan met Timothy Hubert Paul Richardson, a handsome patent lawyer, at a dinner party. Sharing similar interests and educational backgrounds, she at Oxford, he at Cambridge, and a readiness to settle down, they married in September, 1962.
In 1963, Tim and Nan welcomed Helen Elizabeth into the world, and then Jolyon ("Joe") Paul Noble in 1970. The family lived in Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, until 1976 when they emigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Tim had accepted a position at Raychem Corporation and where Nan was guaranteed a lot more sunshine! Both Nan's beloved Burmese cat Daisy and her mother (not the cat's mother : ) also made the move across the pond. However, missing her friends and country, Lady Diana returned to England. She died in 1979. Tim and Nan divorced amicably the same year.
In 1980, Nan married Orion ("Orie") Lindel Hoch, of Canonsburg, PA, then living in Atherton, CA. Orie, an engineer, was a widower with three children - Andrea, Brenda and John. They became a family of seven, with children aged ten to twenty-one. Initially they lived in Los Altos Hills, California. In 1982 Orie joined Litton Industries as President, so the family moved to Beverly Hills, close to the Litton headquarters.
For Nan and Orie, the '80s were busy with corporate travel and, as a result of Orie's career, (reaching Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Litton) introductions to world leaders including presidents, prime ministers, and royalty. Nan became known for hosting elegant and lively dinner parties for which she was always impeccably dressed and charming.
Together they instituted a travel tradition: a trip for the whole blended family when each child turned 21. These trips, whether to a beach vacation in Antigua or horseback riding in Wyoming, were key to establishing enduring family bonds.
Upon Orie's retirement in 1993, they returned to the Bay Area, where their Atherton house became the backdrop for a Cocktail Hour held promptly at 6pm for all who were home (neither t-shirts nor shorts were permitted). In the morning, grandchildren were firmly discouraged from spinning their chairs at the breakfast table, the pool heat was never set over 82?, and Sunday was pizza night. Lots of love and lots of order! Nan and Orie continued to travel regularly, enjoying trips organized by Stanford Alumni (Orie was a Stanford PhD graduate); attending grandchildren's graduations and weddings, and spending time at their home in Carmel.
In 2019, at age 90, Orie died from Parkinson's Disease. Nan missed him terribly - they were a couple who were always together. She settled into a new home in Los Altos with a beautiful garden full of roses and fruit trees. Two wonderful caregivers, Jenny and Marina, were treasures in her life, as was her little Burmese cat, Buttercup. "B" is now living her second life with caregiver Jenny.
Helen lived close enough to pop over frequently, whether it was to silence a smoke detector or together watch an episode of "The Crown." Joe and husband Guillermo would visit from Los Angeles every few weeks, and Brenda, Andrea and John would come for tea and petit fours, or Cocktail Hour (which had slid to 6:30pm). We were collectively grateful that because Nan was in her own home (not a retirement or nursing home) when Covid 19 hit; her life was not impacted greatly.
In 2022, Nan hosted a garden party to celebrate her 90th birthday. Elegant and poised as usual, Nan enjoyed every moment, surrounded by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and even her first husband, Tim, and his wife, Stratton.
Towards the end of her life, Nan relished sleeping when she liked, a perfect cup of tea, watching the Tennis Channel, slowly sipping a vodka tonic, and reading, always reading. Whether it was the San Francisco Chronicle, the Wall Street Journal, books about WWII, espionage novels or tennis biographies, she would read into the wee hours of the morning.
Nan's Celebration of Life took place on July 1st, 2024, what would have been her 92nd birthday. She will be remembered for her wit and candor, her elegant presence, her strength in times of crisis, and her gratitude for a life well-lived. She will be deeply missed.
Nan was preceded in death by her loving husband of 40 years, Dr. Orion (Orie) L. Hoch. She is survived by her children, Jolyon (Joe) Paul Noble Richardson (Guillermo) and Helen Elizabeth Richardson, three stepchildren, Andrea Hoch (Steven Egan), Brenda Sunseri (Jim) and John Hoch (Anne), nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren.