Obituary of Catherine Plante

Catherine Plante passed away peacefully on June 28, 2023. She was born July 29th, 1931 in Chattanooga, Oklahoma. She and her twin sister, Geraldine, had an irreplaceable bond and were the eldest girls of nine children growing up on the family farm a few miles southeast of Chattanooga, OK. She graduated from Chattanooga High School and obtained an associate’s degree from Cameron University. Catherine worked at Mountain States Insurance, the University of New Mexico, Kirtland Air force Base and the US Forest Service. She made Albuquerque, NM her home away from home as she raised three sons and went on to help care for her three grandchildren. Catherine, however, always kept Oklahoma in her heart.

Catherine could be described as creative, intelligent, formidable, and fiercely independent. She was a sports fan who loyally supported the University of New Mexico and University of Oklahoma teams. She preferred watching a sporting event on TV over just about anything else offered. She was even an athlete herself – playing basketball and softball in her youth. Catherine was a woman of many talents and creative pursuits; frequently crocheting items for loved ones, playing the piano, painting, writing, sewing clothing, blankets and quilts. She won numerous awards at the New Mexico State Fair for canning, needlepoint, and crochet. She was an avid reader and made a point to read at least a few pages a day even in the last months of her life. Catherine valued her family; her home was filled with pictures of her children and grandchildren. She even recorded the heights of her grandchildren on the living room wall as they grew up. She was a dog-lover and had multiple four-legged children over the years as well. She nurtured the spaces around her by keeping a garden in her backyard and keeping track of the roadrunners and rabbits that made her home their own. Catherine had an undeniable strength that was evident in her steadfast pride and love for those in her life.

Catherine is preceded in death by her parents, Clayton Lorah and Eva Lorah, brothers Thomas Clifford Lorah, Cecil Lorah and Eugene Lorah; sisters Geraldine Bourlier and Evelyn Mize, daughter-in-law Deborah Ann Plante. She is survived by her brother Robert Lorah, sisters Imogene Booher, and Frances Goodknight, sons Philip Plante, David Plante (Leigh), and Mark Plante; grandchildren Katherine Plante, Lorah Plante, and Joshua Plante.

A graveside service will be held at Sunset Memorial Park in Albuquerque on Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 10:00 am. A reception will follow at 2608 Sandia Lp, Rio Rancho, NM. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Cameron University Foundation at cameron.edu/foundation.

“The guardian angels of life sometimes fly so high as to be beyond our sight, but they are always looking down on us. – Jean Paul Richter.