Catherine Claire Klotz

Catherine Claire Klotz was born in Chicago on Oct. 30, 1947 to Alvin and Esther Urbaniak. She was born and raised in the city of Chicago. She was the third of five children. She was a redhead-apparently with no other redheads in the family. People used to ask her where she got her red hair from. Her mom told her that she was getting rusty: there had been an extended break between mom’s birth and the birth of her previous sibling because dad was in Europe as a medic during WWII during that space of time. After a bit of investigation, there was a memory of a relative with a red beard that had gone prematurely bald. Red hair was somewhere on the gene pool.

Mom went to school at St. Williams through 8th grade. She graduated from Steimetz High School.

Mom and Dad married Memorial weekend in 1970, specifically on May 30. It was a rushed occasion because he received a draft notice for Vietnam. She made her own dress. She always told us it was a mini dress because that was all she had time to complete. Short was the style in the 70’s, though. He ended up getting rejected and the newly married couple needed to find a place to live together. The plan had been that while he was in Vietnam, she would continue living at home so they could save money to buy a house. Plan B was find an apartment ASAP. They found a third floor walk-up and their landlady was Mrs. Laskey. We heard repeated stories about their life there in her building.

They wanted children but it wasn’t happening. They decided to adopt instead but before the paperwork was signed, Mom discovered she was pregnant. Her advice to any woman that was having a difficult time conceiving was, “Relax! It will happen. Just relax.”

I guess Mom followed her advice. She went on to have two more daughters and a son.

Mom believed in God, but she always said there are three you don’t discuss openly: 1. Religion 2. Politics 3. Salary. She lived by that and probably avoided a lot of conflict.

Mom supported Dad. She wasn’t always excited about some of the projects but she helped him with countless remodeling projects and starting and building a business.

Mom cooked Thanksgiving Feasts and Night to be Much Observed dinners. She hosted choir practices.

Mom buried her husband in September of 2000. Her life then revolved then around her children. She helped with wedding plans and finding an apartment. She moved her son to Oklahoma so she could keep an eye on her unmarried daughters there at college. Eventually, two more weddings came-and 10 grandchildren. Her life was her grandchildren.

She was a talker. She liked to laugh. She was friendly. She was loyal. She was sensitive to another’s plight. She was goose protecting her goslings when she thought she needed to be. She loved animals.

She is missed by sisters, brother, daughters, son, nephews, nieces, cousins, grandchildren, and friends.