Catherine Pepe

Catherine Anna Pepe

June 6, 1943 - May 26, 2023

Catherine Anna (Burcham) Pepe died on May 26, 2023 at home in Lompoc, CA. Her family includes husband, Steve Pepe, sons Rob Hagen (Krista) and Wes Hagen (Chanda), and grandchildren Jennifer Hagen, Nicole Hagen, Lyndsey Reutz, Caden Reutz, Brody Reutz, and Kellan Hagen. She is also survived by her sister Mary Blythe (Gary) and brother David W. Burcham (Chris); nieces and nephews Michael Blythe (Robert Gammel), Gregory Blythe (Yadan Li), Bryan Blythe (Marcelo Vilela), Stacy Burcham and David J. Burcham (Gina), and Lisa Mroz (Mark), and her first husband, Don Hagen. Cathy 's brother Donald Burcham and parents Hugh David and Esther Burcham predeceased her.

Cathy's favorite role was mom/grandma. She raised 2 generous and accomplished sons, each making a name for himself in his chosen field, Rob in high tech private equity, Wes in the wine industry. Cathy's Easter and Thanksgiving feasts at Clos Pepe were legendary and a time when "family" extended to all family, family of family, friends of family of family and friends, old and new.

Cathy excelled at homemaking. She loved decorating and personalizing her homes with her own needlepoint creations. She and Steve bought 40 acres of land in Lompoc in 1994, planted 29 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes and produced and sold Clos Pepe wine for many years. Cathy designed their dream home which was built on the vineyard.

She graduated as valedictorian of her class from Oakland High School in 1960 and from Occidental College (magna cum laude) in 1964. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1964. She received her Juris Doctorate (summa cum laude) from Loyola University of Los Angeles School of Law in 1978. While at Loyola Law School, Cathy served on the Loyola Law Review.

After law school, Cathy joined O'Melveny & Myers, LLP. She was the first woman partner in the Employment and Labor Department and, eventually, the first woman to chair the Newport Beach Employment and Labor Department. She also served as Chair of the Associate Committee and Chair of the Minority Issues Committee. Cathy was a national authority on sex harassment and discrimination. Among her presentations was a panel discussion in which Cathy participated with Senator Alan Cranston and Senator William Lockyer. She made a number of media appearances, notably a debate with attorney Gloria Allred on "Use of Women and Minority Quotas in Hiring" on CBS-TV. In retirement, Cathy was appointed by the Federal District Court as the diversity monitor for the Consolidated Settlement Agreement in the nation-wide class action alleging gender discrimination against Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Smith Barney, Inc. She also served as Expert Witness.

Cathy's generosity extended to the community. She and Steve opened their home at Clos Pepe many times for community and church events. She was an active member of St Marks in the Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos where she served as Chancellor of the parish, two terms on the parish's Vestry (board) and twice as Senior Warden (lay president) of the congregation. At St Marks, Cathy began a popular ministry of needlepointing a Christmas angel or star to remember church members who had passed. She eventually enlisted other church needleworkers and the annual Christmas tree is now bedecked with angels and stars memorializing over 30 friends and members.

Cathy served on the Board of Trustees of the Santa Barbara Foundation serving, at various times as a member and, in some instances, as chair of the Investment, Governance, Audit and Compensation Committees. She also served on the boards of directors for Occidental College and PCPA.

In her final years, Cathy realized a long-held dream of authoring a series of children's books loosely based on the adventures of her brother, Donald. Three books have been published with a fourth to be published in June.

Cathy's family thanks the caregivers and staff at Arosa - Central Coast who provided loving and reliable care for her in the last months of her life.

Services to celebrate Cathy's remarkable life will be held on July 15 at 2:00 pm in the sanctuary at St Marks in the Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos (smitv.org). All are welcome.

The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, donations in Cathy's honor and memory be made to St Marks Episcopal Church (smitv.org) or to PCPA (pcpa.org).