Catherine C. Pegues

Catherine Carroll Pegues was born May 11, 1931 to Lawrence and Agnes Carroll in Terre Haute, Ind. and was the youngest of five siblings: Rosemary, Larry, Josephine, and John. Her siblings were all college graduates who helped train and motivate Cathy to be an academic achiever all through school. Cathy attended Catholic Schools through 10th grade in Terre Haute and graduated from Wiley High in 1952. She was an accomplished musician and competed in the National Forensic League, specializing in Dramatic Declamation. Her senior year she advanced to the national level, placing 4th. She continued her studies at Northwestern University where she met her future husband, J. James Pegues, on a blind date on Memorial Day 1949. Cathy was a scholarship student at the School of Speech and was very active in the theatre department. After Northwestern, Jim and Cathy both moved to Philadelphia. Jim began his internship and residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Cathy worked as the Executive Secretary for The National Board of Medical Examiners. Their plans were interrupted in 1953 when Jim was drafted. The couple married on October 1st, 1955 at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls Texas, and began the great adventure of their lives in December 1956, when they moved to Germany and lived in Wiesbaden for 18 months, serving at the 7100 USAF Headquarters Hospital. In Germany, Cathy and Jim developed shared enthusiasms for birdwatching, gardening, and German cuisine. Back in the US, the family lived in Lansdown and Swarthmore before settling in Moorestown, NJ in 1962. Jim became the chief of Neurology at Burlington County Memorial, and Cathy settled in to the life of raising their three children, Peggy, David and Joseph. Cathy was very active in the Women’s Medical Auxiliary and served as state president in 1979. She also directed many plays as a volunteer at William A Allen Middle School in Moorestown. Later, she served from 1985 to 2012 as The Executive Secretary of the Burlington County Medical Society, retiring after she turned 81. After Jim died in 1986, Cathy embraced her role as “Grandma” and matriarch of her extended family; she is survived by nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren. She was always generous with her time, financial support and love, and she prided herself in seeing that all the children and grandchildren were college educated. In her final years, she was cared for by her grandson, Patrick Broome, which allowed her to remain in her beloved home surrounded by family. Her greatest legacies are her insistence on good manners and civility, her love of literature and the theatre, her strong work ethic, and her deep and abiding faith in God. Services are to be held at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Moorestown on Monday January 11th at 10:30 AM. Mourners may attend the services virtually through the OLGC live stream: www.olgcnj.org/live-stream. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Catherine’s name to Philabundance: www.philabundance.org/donate/ Memories and condolences may be shared by visiting marktilghmanfuneralhome.com