Catherine Elizabeth [Johnston] Broatch of Port Townsend died July 27th at LifeCare Center in Port Townsend, where she had resided since spring of 2017. She was 99 years old, and the last person to pass away in her generation, in both her and her husband’s families.
She was the youngest of three daughters born to Harold Edward Johnston, DDS, and Vera Whitney (Snary) Johnston. Her father’s family emigrated from Northern Ireland to Canada in 1840, and her mother’s family from Lincolnshire, England, in 1828.
Catherine and her sisters, Marjorie and Mary, were raised in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, on the Canadian prairies. With the outbreak of World War II, she moved with her family to Calgary, Alberta, while her father served in the Canadian Dental Corps. When she turned 18, Catherine enrolled in a two-year occupational therapy training program offered by the University of Toronto in Ontario. Soon after her graduation in 1945, she married George K. Broatch, who she had known for several years. He had just completed his World War II service in the Royal Canadian Navy, posted in the North Atlantic.
The couple emigrated from Canada to the United States in 1950 with their three children, and settled in Southern California. They had three more children in California, and a seventh child in Spokane, Washington, where they moved in 1960. They joined the Spokane Mountaineers, and were avid hikers, skiers, climbers, and campers. Their children have fond memories of weekend and summer family camping trips to the mountains, the desert, the ocean, and lakes in California and Washington. In 1967, they moved to Bainbridge Island where they resided almost continuously until 2015.
Catherine loved to knit and sew. Her sewing projects ranged from doll clothes, to her children’s clothes, to tailored jackets and coats, and even to tents and sleeping bags. She took her sewing machine on her and George’s annual winter road trips to California in the 1980s and 90s, making clothes for herself, her kids, and even her sisters. Like her father, she was an avid flower gardener. She was known in her own family and her husband’s family for her dry sense of humor.
Catherine was preceded in death by her husband George, who died in 2016 in Port Townsend. She leaves seven children, Linda Broatch and Marnie Frederickson (Erik) of Port Townsend; Randall E. “Buck” Broatch (Sally Hildt) of Seattle; Robert Broatch of Washington; Lindsay R. “Rudy” Broatch (Ronda Piszk) of Kingston; Sheila L. Broatch (Steven Weinberg) of Bainbridge Island; and Valerie C. Broatch (William Taylor) of Los Angeles. She is also survived by seven grandchildren: Christian Frederickson (Tara) of New York; Hans Frederickson (Mia) of Port Townsend; Martin Frederickson (Charlotte) of Chimacum; Zachary Zilber (Jamie) of California; Ari Weinberg of Seattle; Fiona A. Broatch and Duncan L. Broatch, both of Kingston; and eight great-grandchildren.
The family expresses its heartfelt gratitude for the excellent care Catherine was provided by all of the staff at LifeCare Center of Port Townsend over seven years. No services will be held.
