Cathy L Welsh

Cathy experienced many hardships in her childhood and continued to suffer great losses in her lifetime, but those things never stopped her from living her life to the fullest.

She overcame the passing of her brother, her mother and her husband- her son’s father. The church family in Dallas showered her with blessings. Cathy sang in the choir and helped lead up activities such as Junior Bible Quiz which Stephanie enjoyed with her peers. These wonderful friends helped her welcome Erik into the family just months after his father’s passing.

Her journey in church continued when she moved to Austin and met many amazing lifelong friends. She immersed herself into Vacation Bible School, Operation Christmas Child, home group bible studies, ladies’ retreats, missions’ trips, and more. She headed up a Greeting Card ministry where ladies would gather together and make cards for the birthdays of everyone in the congregation. This stemmed from some of the other passions in her life known as “Stampin’ Up” and “Creative Memories”. She always knew how to put into art form the loving spirit she had for celebrating others and making the moments last!

With her spouse she was involved in homeless ministry as well as Insight for Inmates prison ministry, always focused on being a help in her community. They sponsored a child in need through World Vision. They ran a “Cares Team” where they planned and arranged functions for their apartment neighbors. She participated as a vendor in the annual Deutschen Pfest in Pflugerville. Outreach was very much a strong suit for Cathy.

Her professional life outside of her church life was also quite ambitious. She had worked many different jobs as a teenager and moved her way up to working at such companies as Ericsson and Software Spectrum. Pampered Chef was another avenue of work that became a joy in her life. One of the greatest of these joys was Longaberger. Anyone who has ever been to her home has seen the many baskets and how she used them with the keen eye she had for interior design.

Cathy and her family opened up their home in 2006 to host an exchange student from Brazil for 11 months. She became just like family as she jumped right into every moment. Stephanie then went off to college and Cathy hosted one more student in 2007, a boy from Slovakia. She was happy to give them a one-of-a-kind experience.

Cathy endured more heartbreak and pain when she lost two babies, Joseph Lee and Tessa June. She honored their memory in many ways; an opportunity opened up called Grief Share where she was able to counsel others through their losses.

Family and traditions were always an important role in her life. She wrote letters with her grandmother up until her passing in 2014. She loved celebrating any kind of moment, whether it was going out to Luby’s after church with friends or collecting Precious Moments figurines with every birthday and holiday. Even after a day of waterpark fun she always went to the same trusted place for lunch. Scavenger hunts were a birthday tradition, and Painting with a Twist was a go-to for Mother’s Day celebrations. One of the biggest traditions in her beloved church family was gathering for a good game of dominoes, which will continue to bring people together in the light of forging ahead through the darkest times.

Amid all of these hobbies and responsibilities, Cathy homeschooled Erik for many years. She plugged herself into Classical Conversations where the two of them flourished in Christian education, and more lasting relationships were built. Cathy was a teacher for Erik and his peers, an absolute example of fortitude.

In 2013 Cathy became a Nana, one of the biggest joys of her life! She did what she loved to do, which was travel around and go visit those grandbabies! Family vacations were always a priority; many memories were made in several trips to Red River, New Mexico to visit with Erik’s grandparents. She had even taken Stephanie and Erik to Maui, Hawaii when they were only about 11 and 4 years old!

It was Cathy’s delight to involve the grandchildren in the family vacations! Two of them got to see her take her biggest step in her academic career. She had gotten her GED after high school, and her associates degree in 2004. Then in 2017 she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Oral Roberts University. Family was there to cheer her on!

She found one more church family to be a part of, making friends wherever she went! She sang in church choir again. Erik played in a band, and she became his number one fan! Music was always a big theme in her life, she could never turn down a live concert, whether Christian music or rock-n-roll, she loved it all - as long as it wasn’t country music!

Her writing career opened several doors; she was a journalist for the Pflugerville Pflag as well as Community Impact in Round Rock. She enjoyed seeking out the information, meeting people and hearing their stories, then bringing their journeys to life on paper.

If you ever received a greeting card from her that was not homemade, it was from American Greetings! She was a loyal employee to them for years, around 2011 and again from 2016-2018. She then found the IRS and it became her mission to retire through them – she did it!

Her love of poker began back in the early 2000s as a family at-home hobby and a date night activity. Much later, she found herself in another transitional time of her life with time to spare and more love to give, so she found a new home in a poker family. They were a rowdy, fun bunch who gathered at different venues, that ultimately led to her to be able to play in Vegas where she was always a winner as long as she was surrounded by her friends! This group stayed with her through the good and the bad. They hosted not one but two charity events to raise funds for her hospital bills. Her talent and hobby of crocheting became an avenue for fundraising as well, as friends and family were more than generous to trade their support for scarves, hats, bookmarks and more.

Cathy enjoyed just about everything! Going to Round Rock Express baseball games, Dallas Stars hockey games, and Dallas Cowboys football games always kept her spirits up. She loved to dress up on Halloween, even as a grown adult she was still winning costume contests! She loved her fur babies and got them in on the festivities as well! She inspired Erik and Stephanie’s love for music and photography and each of them made it their own. Stephanie’s love of scrapbooking came directly from Cathy as well as interests and talents in volleyball, violin, and journalism. Shopping, movies, trivia, and jigsaw puzzles were big hobbies for Cathy, and she even had a knack for gardening! In her final days, she had just gotten off a cruise ship and made it back home. She had said that was her “10th cruise or so”, she could not even keep track of all that fun! Cathy Welsh is survived by two children, five grandchildren, a sister, a brother, nephews, cousins, aunt, uncle, and a multitude of friends.

A visitation for Cathy will be held Saturday, September 2, 2023 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM at

Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, 14501 North Interstate 35, Pflugerville, TX 78660,

followed by a memorial service from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldencapitalparks.com for the Welsh family.