Catherine “Cathy” Mary Sachse, born September 15, 1943, passed away peacefully May 24, 2024, at River Falls Area Hospital after a brief illness.
Cathy was born in Elko, Nevada, to Thomas and Carolyn (nee Wendt) and was the older sister to Frederick and Thomas Jr. She was raised in Hartford, Wisconsin, and was a proud graduate of Hartford High School. She enjoyed attending reunions with classmates.
Cathy was a long time resident of Baileys Harbor where she shared a home with her mother in her beloved Door County. From there she moved west, eventually settling in Tomah where she attended St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and was an active participant in the Jesus Cares program. She was employed by Handishop Industries. For many years she was an annual attendee of Camp Basic and Badger Camp. Cathy’s final move was to River Falls in 2021 where she was a member of Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church.
She “adopted” a vast extended family throughout her life. Once she got to know someone, Cathy cared about them immensely, never forgetting a birthday or special occasion. She enjoyed sending and receiving cards and was a generous gift giver. She loved knowing news of people’s day-to-day lives and sharing it with others.
As much as she loved spending time with family, friends, and neighbors, she also highly valued her independence, living on her own for over 20 years. It was important to Cathy to make her own choices.
Brave and determined with a youthful spirit and innocence, Cathy enjoyed collecting trinkets and stuffed animals, playing bingo, watching movies, coloring, and doing word search and cross stitch. She liked to visit new places, taking photos, buying postcards, and chronicling her journeys in photo albums. She enjoyed laughing, making others laugh, and had a penchant for catch phrases. Though she suffered a brain injury due to a fever when she was young, she lived a very full life of nearly 81 years.
Cathy was preceded in death by her parents, brother Fred Sachse, sister-in-law Debbie Sachse, and special friend Gloria Young.
She is survived by sister-in-law Gladys Sachse and her family Anne (John) Young, William (Kristi) Sachse, and David (Stacie) Sachse, great nieces and nephews Matthew & Meghan Young, Kiefer, Jack & Samantha Sachse; brother Tom, his children Jenny, Mary, and Tommy, and his grandchildren; and cousin Debbie Wendt.
She is also survived by her “surrogate family” Eric (Jenny Wilcox), Henry, & Elliot Young and Amanda (Sam) Daley along with special friend and caretaker Janet Wilson and her family.
Sincere appreciation goes to the staff at Comforts of Home of River Falls for making her final years comfortable and fun, allowing her to live with dignity and joy. Extra special thanks to Shauna Dean for her creativity, grace, humor, and amazing singing voice, all of which Cathy adored.
Burial and celebration of life will be held September 15 at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Hartford, WI. Arrangements have been handled by Berndt-Ledesma Funeral Home.
Berndt-Ledesma Funeral Home
