CATHERINE POWERS

  
CATHERINE POWERS "Cathy"  January 21, 1943 - February 28, 2015  
Catherine "Cathy" Powers, a longtime resident of Alexandria, Virginia, passed away peacefully on Saturday at Mount Vernon Hospital after a brief illness. She was 72. Born and raised in upstate New York, the daughter of Ruth and William Riley of Rome, New York, she graduated from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, in 1964 and later earned her accounting degree from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She used her keen sense of numbers as a CPA who specialized in income tax and estate planning and truly enjoyed helping her clients for over 40 years. While she was a treasured partner and a feared opponent at the bridge table and was a ranking Life Master tournament bridge player, with Bob Powers she raised the four partners she valued most in the world, her children. She was an inspiration to Gus, Jennifer, Nicholas and Matthew. Her grandchildren, Alexander and Ben Holderness and Elle and Cameron Powers, were also the lucky beneficiaries of Gramma Cathy's laugh, as well as her endless patience and her delicious baking. She was a favorite companion to her grandchildren upon whom she doted so lovingly. In the same way she stitched together beautiful quilts with her friends in the Springfield Quilters Guild, her devotion to her family was the very fabric of their lives. Her sharp eye, wry smile, keen memory and love of baseball were treasured and enjoyed by her family. Her willingness to lend an ear or a hand, her loyalty, her wise counsel and her open heart will be much missed. She is survived by her son Rob (Gus) Powers and his partner Chris Baker of Columbia, Maryland; her daughter Jennifer and son-in-law Howard Holderness of San Francisco, California; her son Nicholas Powers of Raleigh, North Carolina; her son Matthew and daughter-in-law Andrea Powers of El Dorado Hills, California; her sister Eileen and brother-in-law Robert Tait of Valrico, Florida; and her brother William and sister-in-law Lee Ann Riley of Boonville, New York. A celebration of Cathy's life will be held on Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m. at Arlington Church of the Brethren, 300 North Montague Street, Arlington, Virginia. A reception will follow