Cathy Ellen Weismantel was born Wednesday, July 12, 1950 in New York .
she died Sunday, November 18, 2018. her recorded age was 68.
Cathy's Memorial Service as given by Steven Lake:
She loved country music, particularly Garth Brooks. She always dug into the lyrics of songs she like and analyzed the words. She also loved driving around with the top down blaring her Jimmy Buffet CD. She loved cars and each time she purchased one it became a labor of love and dedication. For 12 of the last 22 years she always had a convertible. The rag top and the baseball hat were her trademarks.
Her favorite places were:
1. Home
2. Eastern End of the North Shore of Long Island, Greenport NY
3. Most beaches
4. Macy’s and Home Goods
5. The Blue Ridge Parkway
6. Oyster bars
7. Furniture stores
Big moments in her life:
In 2003 Cathy opened her own appraisal business and specialized in review appraisals. These appraisals were used to verify the value of the property in question against the initial appraisal. In 2004 Cathy and Steve sold their rental in Columbus and bought a nice Cedar ranch on Laguna in a tax fee exchange. They were drawn to the area after visiting their dear friends Connie and Roger Carbone who ere living on West Lake forest at that time…. It was then that the Lake became a goal in their retirement plans. They worked hard on the Laguna house and were fortunate to find good tenants along the way.
Over the next could of years the subprime market grew, and no one really cared about the true value of properties. Steve used to call her the “last honest appraiser.” In the fall of 2006 Steve and Cathy were talking and planning on what to do about her business. Cathy was not sure she could continue appraising. They talked about a do it yourself dog wash and they, traveled all over the region researching them. The verdict was no… there were too many solid business objections.
Some time in November Steve said, “you need to work at a bank and be a review appraiser.” Cathy despite being one of the most courageous people he knew was sure that the banks would not be hiring. Steve was ever the salesman and suggested she try Fifth Third Bank “at least check out the open positions on the Fifth Third Home page. Cathy agreed, and sure enough they wanted to hire her over the phone. Cathy insisted on a face to face interview. She got the job, but she would have to work in Cincinnati. At first, they searched for a place to live in Cincinnati, but that proved to be too costly and they really liked their home in Columbus.
They found an apartment about 15 minutes from the Fifth Third Headquarters and the started work on schedule. After six months Cathy decided the apartment was too big and not warm and fuzzy. As the lease ran out, she found a wonderful 600 square foot apartment with a garage. She loved the place and often said, “it was the first time in her life she every had her very own place. Steve stayed on Columbus to take care of the house and Levi, a 14 year- old, Brittany, but visited every Tuesday evening, even the Tuesday after knee surgery. They went to the local wings place for wings and nachos then back to the apartment. For over two years this was the routine and they realized that their love was a real as real could be. Cathy continued to work from the apartment until 2004 when the bank decided that Cathy could work remotely, from home. Steve and the Levi the dog were both ecstatic. From 2008 the goal was to get ready to retire and move to Lake Monticello.
Coincidentally, Fifth Third Back decided to buy out 170 senior employees and Cathy was on the list. She bounded down the stairs to Steve’s office/ man cave area and announced that she was being retired and more importantly, bought out! The Cathy carefully constructed was really coming together. In early May they put their home in Columbus up for sale and to Lake Monticello house hunting. The Columbus house was intentionally under priced by Cathy and it ended up in a bidding war with no less than five parties bidding. The house was sold in 3 days. Cathy was proud of her home and the plane to sell it and like most everything she did, her plan was well orchestrated and effective. That was June 2016.
On June 30, 2016, Steve went to the closing of the home they purchased on Ponderosa, while Cathy stayed behind to close the sale of their Columbus home. Cathy was clearly in charge of the logistics of this move. The next day Cathy drove to Lake Monticello with Suitcase and her beloved Christmas ornaments.
Day by day getting the home on Ponderosa just right was Priority one for her. Over the course of next 8 months she transformed the house into her home, and she was proud of it.
Christmas 2017 was the first Christmas party, and everything was going according to the plan they put together. There was a “Sip and savor” a few diners, a trip to Long Island and another Christmas party in 2018. In the ensuing months Cathy was not feeling as well as she wanted to.
There were many trips to several doctors and no diagnosis. On Mother’s Day 2018 the doctors found the cancer … Pancreatic Cancer. Six months later, on Sunday November 18 at 4:00 AM Cathy went to sleep and did not wake up again. Steve was with her as he was for every appointment, treatment and meeting. Like all the tasks they did together, they did everything they needed to do to make the treatments work. After the Chemo treatments were done things actually looked better. For a while.
Cathy and Amber went out one day to “run around” as she used to say… They went to Monticello and to the Gift Shop there. She loved the Monticello Gift shop. That was her last best day. She came home happy and bubbly. Gradually her body started giving up. There was another week of doctor appointments, blood tests and transfusions. As usual Cathy was ahead of the curve, she got our paperwork together and showed Steve how pay the bills and they talked about he Memorial. Today is a celebration of Cathy’s life… Those last 11 days she just rested. Hospice of Piedmont were called in with all the equipment and meds that Cathy would need. They coached Steve through the end, and he was certainly grateful for that service. In the last three days Cathy just slept, but twice during those days with Steve waking every two hours to give her some meds she planted, kisses on his check, as he leaned over her. She was going now…she went to sleep.
Steve and Cathy were truly in love. They spent almost every moment together for 23 years. He made her happy and she made him happy. They took care of each other and each put the other one first.
Cathy had more interests than people knew. She was trained as a dental assistant, a real estate agent, a real estate appraiser and then a review appraiser. She was highly organized and very neat…I’m assuming that Steve was a real project for her since he never throws anything out.
In addition to her dogs she loved to garden and take walks around the yard looking at the flowers and various plants. Cathy saved butterflies especially the swallow butterflies… she would show the neighborhood children the cocoons and the various stages of change when they became butterflies.
Here at the Lake she volunteered with Happy Faces and just threw herself into it. Is Mary Kidd here?
She was a great gift giver often picking up small gifts and saving them for just the right moment or event.
She was a very skilled Calligrapher and seamstress and even though Steve did most of the cooking she was a very good cook. Here at the Lake Doris taught her to bake cookies and pies- I did tell you her father was a baker, right? He never taught his kids to bake.
She loved her grandchildren and even though they lived far away she would send the books and notes to stay in touch. Her daughter, Jill did come here all the way from Maui to be with her mom at the end.
She was a real Mets fan, but she supported the Yankees for Steve’s sake and even started watching college football Ohio State of course, with him.
She loved to travel, mostly driving trips, but did talk Steve into a cruise and a few trips out west.
The Trips to Long Island in the spring and fall were among her favorite things to do. There they would have friends over to the cottage they rented, have cook outs and roam around the places the lived and played in the childhood.
The were raised 5 miles apart, but never met until they both were living in Columbus Ohio. It was inevitable they would find each other.
Cathy’s ashes will be spread at the Scattering Garden in the Flint Cemetery in Worthington, OH one day Steve and suitcase will join her there and they will be together again.