Henry Ford had just invented the assembly line for his Model T automobile when Catherine was born in 1914 to Florence (Brown) Morrissey and Leo Morrissey of Weehawken, New Jersey. At the age of four she survived the 1918 influenza pandemic. Her teen years were marked by memories of the Great Depression: she had what she needed but not necessarily what she wanted.
She was a 1936 graduate of the New Jersey College for Women (now Douglass College.) After graduation she was hired as the first employee of Perkin Elmer, now a multi-national company specializing in analytical instruments, genetic testing and diagnostic tools. They had one of the nation's earliest computers, which filled up an entire room.
In 1941 she married the late George Arthur Jonic. They were separated for nearly four years during World War II. Mr. Jonic didn't see his first-born child, George Jr., until the boy was three and a half years old. They had four more children: Barbara of Sandwich; Robert; Christine of Los Angeles and Florence of Attleboro.
Mrs. Jonic was one of the nation's foremost experts on American pressed and historical glass. She and her husband collected an array of Americana, and sold many of their treasures at antique shows.
Most of their lives were spent in New Jersey. The couple moved to Sandwich in 1995 to be closer to their children.
She was an avid reader who consumed at least one newspaper a day. She also enjoyed bird watching, cooking and doing crossword puzzles. Above all she was a loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother who will be sorely missed. In addition to her children, she is survived by her daughter-in-law, Carol, George’s wife; and a sister, Ellenora McDonough of Tom's River, New Jersey. Five other siblings predeceased her. She had four grandchildren and six great grandchildren whom she adored.
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