Mary "Cathy" Peden

Mary Catherine “Cathy” Peden (nee Frank), 97, died January 24th at her home at Springwell Senior Living in Mt. Washington, while in Gilchrist Hospice. Cathy was born at home on May 19, 1926, in the house in Middle River that her father Walter and mother Ruby Frank built. She was raised there alongside her six sisters and three brothers, “the Ten Little Hellions.” Cathy met her future husband Henry C. Peden, Sr., while she was hula hooping in her front yard and he was walking past in search of a boarding house. The two eloped shortly thereafter in Elkton in 1942 and began what would be a 72-year marriage. They lived in Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland, California, and Kentucky, and had three children along the way - Carol Anne, Henry Jr., and Linda Marlene.

Cathy was a homemaker and a devoted mother and grandmother; she often took care of her young nieces, nephews, and grandchildren while their mothers and fathers worked. When she and Henry Sr. retired to Kearneysville, West Virginia in 1989, they purchased a small farm and named it Kenmar Farm. They spent their early retirement years farming, raising chickens, and entertaining visiting family. They competed in the Jefferson County Fair, where Cathy won various prizes for her fruits and vegetables. Cathy and Henry Sr. moved back to White Marsh in 1996 to be closer to family, at which point Cathy participated in The Daughters of the American Revolution (Benjamin Bradford Norris Chapter) and The Hereditary Order Of The Signers Of The Bush Declaration. They lived in White Marsh until they moved to Springwell together as Henry Sr. ’s health deteriorated.

Her family will remember Cathy for late night talks at the kitchen table, ghost stories, her canned tomatoes, her never-ending love of Pizza Hut Pan Pizza, and always having iced tea at the ready for company. She had an uncanny ability to remember all the details of Henry Sr.’s stories correctly, and never missed the chance to correct him when he made errors in his retelling. She displayed steady, unwavering resilience during the toughest of times, including the physical ailments of aging into her late nineties.

Cathy was preceded in death by her husband Henry Sr.; her late sisters Lillian Carroll, Alice Otto, Ruby Lee Barnes, Carlyn Kearney, Ethel Zielinski, and Irene Woodward; her late brothers Walter Frank II, Wesley Frank, and James Frank; and her late daughter Linda Noll (late husband Rick). She will be missed by her daughter Carol Michael (late husband Wayne) and her son Henry C. Peden, Jr. (wife Veronica), and her seven grandchildren (Rebecca Sanzone, Cynthia DeLuca, Henry C. Peden III, Danielle Moon, Michelle Alberts, Lynnelle Noll, and William Noll), ten great-grandchildren (Ronald Sanzone, Robert Sanzone, Bryan Meinschein, Kyle Levy, Aidan Moon, Eleanor Alberts, Colin Moon, Hazel Alberts, Greta Felter, and Daisy Noll), two great-great-grandchildren (Aaron Meinschein and Elysse Meinschein) and two great-grandchildren to-be (a set of twins Baby A and Baby B) due in June 2024.

Friends and family may call at the Bruzdzinski Funeral Home at 1407 Old Eastern Avenue, Essex, on Tuesday, January 30th from 12 to 1 pm. The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. immediately after visitation. Interment will follow at Bel Air Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Disabled American Veterans (DAV), 860 Dolwick Drive, Erlanger, KY 41018.