Catherine"Toot"Montgomery Underwood Maraist

Catherine ("Toot") Montgomery Underwood Maraist passed into eternal life on May 2, 2016.  She was born on January 27, 1936, in Jackson, Mississippi, to John Campbell Underwood and Catherine "Kitty" Montgomery Underwood. She and her sister Jane spent their early years in Mississippi"”first in Jackson, and then, following their father's call to service in World War II and their mother's illness and death from tuberculosis, on their Aunt Era and Uncle Tom's (Smith) farm in Arkabutla, Mississippi. The summers not spent on horseback in Arkabutla were spent in their mother's hometown of Madison, Mississippi, at the home of their beloved grandmother, Minter.  In 1946, following her mother's death and her father's return from military service, her family relocated to Louisiana where she attended elementary school in New Orleans, Neville High in Monroe and graduated from University High in Baton Rouge in 1954.  She went on to attend LSU where she obtained degrees in Art and Education and was a member of Pi Beta Phi.  While there, she met and married Frank Maraist, an LSU law student.  Over the next decade, she and Frank had three children as he practiced law in Baton Rouge and then Kaplan, Louisiana.  From 1963-1968, she taught at Kaplan and Gueydan Elementary Schools.  The family spent a year in New Haven CT while her husband attended Yale University to begin a career in teaching law.  Over the next five years, the family moved several times, with stops in Austin, TX, Oxford, MS, Chapel Hill, NC and finally settling in Baton Rouge in 1974 when Frank joined the faculty of the LSU Law Center.  Toot was the rock of her family, a patient and wise counselor, and above all a faithful witness for the Lord.  She excelled in the hardest of all arts"”listening"”and used her gifts of compassion and grace to ease the burdens of her friends and family.  Her kindness, humility, and witness to Christ influenced everyone she met, and will live on through those who were blessed to have known her.  She also loved to paint, travel with her husband, and spend time with her grandchildren and many friends. Toot is survived by her husband, Frank L. Maraist; two daughters, Laura Irlbeck and Catherine M. Maraist and her husband (Jim Van Hook), and a son, Tom Maraist and his wife (Patti).  She is also survived by her seven grandchildren, Christopher Maraist, Stephen Maraist, Daniel Maraist, Robbie Irlbeck, Isaac Irlbeck, James Van Hook, and Olivia Van Hook; her sister, Jane Underwood McCall, her brother-in-law, Robert Comeaux, her sister-in-law, Cathy Walker Underwood, and numerous nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, John Campbell Underwood, her son-in-law, Robert Irlbeck, her sister-in-law, Myrtle Maraist, and her stepmother, Mary Lou Slay Underwood. Visitation will be held on Friday, May 6, 2016, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government Street.  Further visitation will be held on Saturday, May, 7, 2016, from 11:00 a.m. until the memorial service at noon at First Presbyterian Church, 763 North Boulevard. The family thanks the staff at Our Lady of the Lake, The Crossing at Clarity Hospice, and the Memory Lane unit at Amber Terrace for their excellent and loving care. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Alzheimer's Services of the Capital Area or to a church or charity of your choice.  Luke 24:5.