Catherine Anna Wells

CATHERINE A. WELLS May 2, 1919 – February 14, 2016 Catherine Anna Lieb was born on May 2, 1919. She was the youngest of four children. Catherine, her parents, Joseph & Theresa, and siblings Charlie, Joe, and Mary lived in Pittsburgh, PA. In the mid 1940's Catherine married Harvey Wells and moved to Denver joining her sister Mary and brother-in-law. Aunt Mary and Catherine were very close, they raised their children, worked, played bingo and enjoyed life into the 20th century. Catherine was a devout Catholic and belonged to the parish of St Francis De Sales. Catherine and Harvey had twin boys, Wayne and Duane. Harvey died when the boys were 9-1/2 and Catherine devoted her life to raising her boys. She was a single mother caring for two rambunctious boys, working full time, and paid tuition for parochial school grades 1-12. She never learned how to drive and used the city buses as her means of transportation. Catherine worked for 73 years and only had three jobs. She worked at the 5&10 (which for the younger generation is like a Walgreens with a cafeteria) and provided housekeeping service in two private homes. Catherine retired from her last job at the age of 84. She worked 33 years for Mr. and Mrs. Greene who became her extended family. Some of Catherine's fondest memories were dancing with Mrs. Greene in the kitchen and eating lunch with Mr. Greene. Catherine always moved fast. She ran – never walked and only slowed down after breaking her hip. Our friend Dave Keefe would say he would see Catherine on several occasions running to the bus stop. Aunt Mary nicknamed Catherine - Honey. She was Aunt Honey to her nephew Rod and Nana to her grandsons. She was very kind, loving, considerate and always willing to help others whether it was family, friends or just acquaintances. She only saw the good in mankind. Wayne would joke and tell his mom that she would even make excuses for Charles Manson by saying that Charles was just confused. After breaking her hip Catherine came to live with us. It was apparent that the Alzheimer Disease was progressing and Catherine could not live alone. Our granddaughter, Gina - 2 years old, decided to become Catherine's nurse and playmate. Gina would hold her hand and help her walk, telling her to hop, hop when using the walker, and to please eat because if she didn't, Catherine was going to grow smaller. They even played Barbies together. While visiting in Arizona during the Christmas holiday season, Catherine was talking about getting her varicose veins stripped. Craig and Jeff then made up a song, ""All I want for Christmas is my two veins stripped, two veins stripped."" Catherine thought the song was so funny and laughed so hard she was crying. Craig and Jeff always received birthday cards addressed to ""Master Craig"" and ""Master Jeff"" which made them feel extra special and so cool. One Christmas, Catherine gave Jerry the best gift ever – a toilet paper holder radio! Prior to attending the Michael Jackson concert, we were all trying to moon walk. Of course, Catherine had succeeded the smooth moves. Catherine borrowed Amie's sequined MJ glove and wore it to the concert. Catherine was one of a kind, instilling these same qualities in Wayne and Duane. Alzheimer's is a terrible disease with many complications and it affects everyone differently. We were very fortunate that Catherine was afraid of going outdoors after dark and hated the cold. However, she would still get up during the night and wander from room to room. As you know, the main symptom of Alzheimer's is short term memory loss increasing to total memory loss as the disease progresses. A day did not go by without Catherine commenting on the beauty of the clouds in the sky. She would look up and say how beautiful, and a few seconds later would tell us again, and again. It became a game to all of us how many times she mentioned the clouds. Even our granddaughter, Alycia, while going on rides with Papa and Catherine would return home and report ""25"" or whatever the amount of the clouds was mentioned. One day, Wayne and his mom were out for about 5 hours and Wayne was very excited as his mother broke her record. She had talked about the clouds 131 times! Catherine had a full and wonderful life and she enriched ours. We will miss you. Private services will be held at Foothills Gardens of Memory. Please share your favorite memories and condolences with the family by signing the guestbook below.