Obituary of Catherine Thaler

Catherine M. Thaler Catherine M. Thomas Thaler, age 83, died peacefully on Monday, December 17, 2007 at Fairview Manor, where she had been residing for the last year. Prior to her nursing home stay she resided in the often-admired cedar "A" frame home on Grubb Road and then in Whispering Woods development. Many Erieites will remember Cathy as independent, active, and a pioneer of women in the professional workforce due to her forty-year career at The Warren Company of Erie. She retired from The Warren Company, where she began as secretary and retired as the Chief Financial Officer, in 2002. She also held in her lifetime many community roles including holding multiple offices in the Credit Managers Association of Erie, Girl Scout Leader, Cub Scout Den Mother, Girls Softball Coach, CCD teacher at Our Lady of Peace Church and leadership roles in local bowling and golf leagues. She was also an aspiring artist and poet, among her many other avocations. Cathy often challenged others to be different, unique, and independent, and she modeled this philosophy for her children and friends as well. She was born the oldest of six children in Uniontown, PA, spending her childhood and adolescence in the coal mining town of Bobtown, PA. After graduating from Point Marion High School, she moved to Erie, where she met and married Richard C. Thaler, deceased in 1979, and had four children who survive her: Debra Ann Thaler, Ph.D. and partner, Michael Gilroy, of Bucks County, PA; Thomas R. Thaler and his wife, Joyce, of Erie; Denise M. Reisenweber (nee Thaler) and her husband, James, of Millcreek; and Diane R. Dinardo (nee Thaler) of Carol Stream, IL. Catherine had nine grandchildren: Amy, Joey, Patrick, Jeffrey, Chrissy, Catherine, Michael, Lisa, and Tom; and seven great grandchildren: Ryan, Ava, Lucas, Caitlin, Mercedes, Marley, and Anthony, at the time of her death. In addition to her parents, Clarence and Catherine Vasey Thomas, her husband, Richard C. Thaler, and her brother, Clarence "Bud" Thomas, preceded her in death. She is survived by her siblings Harry Thomas and his wife, Delphine, of Erie, Sarah Sparks of Napels, FL, Patricia Kotyuk and her husband, John, of Erie, and Thomas J. Thomas and his wife, Carol, of WA. Friends may call at the Dusckas-Martin Funeral Home, Inc., 4216 Sterrettania Road, on Thursday from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. and are invited there on Friday at 10:00 a.m. for the funeral service. Interment Laurel Hill Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the local American Red Cross, Erie Chapter, 4691 Pittsburgh Ave., Erie, PA 16509 or the American Heart Association, 823 Filmore St., Erie, PA 16505.