Catherine E. "Cathy" Ferme Duehr Obituary (1955 - 2022)

Catherine E. "Cathy" Ferme Duehr, 66, of Normal, passed away Thursday, May 12, 2022 at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington. Her memorial service will be held at 3:00 p.m., Saturday, May 28, 2022 at Carmody-Flynn Funeral Home, Bloomington with Rev. Sara L. Isbel officiating. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Humane Society of Central Illinois. Cathy was born August 30, 1955 in Chicago, the daughter of Richard and Caroline Schultz Ferme. Cathy was born 7 weeks premature (weighing only 3 lbs) and was not expected to survive. Her parents divorced early on and her mother moved back to Bloomington to be closer to family. Cathy had a strong belief in the importance of education, influenced by her grandfather (Dr. William Eben Schultz, chair of English Literature at Illinois Wesleyan), who helped raise her along with her grandmother Floy Welch Schultz and aunt June Schultz. She adored her grandfather who accepted and loved her unconditionally, and was proud that he wrote both the cheer song and alma mater at Culver Stockton and Illinois Wesleyan. This educational tradition is continued in her children, who have earned a doctorate and two master's degrees. Cathy received a Bachelor's in Elementary Education from Culver-Stockton College and a Master's in Clinical Psychology from Eastern Illinois University. Cathy loved college and thrived at a small school. She made friendships that lasted the rest of her life. After college she worked as a mental health therapist and then a bilingual school psychologist. After she partially retired, she loved scoring tests at Metritech. Some of her closest friends were her coworkers there. She married Ronald R. Duehr on June 20, 1987, in Bloomington. They were happily married for 35 years. Together they had two children (Sarah and Jim), and she was very proud of both for their academic and personal accomplishments. Cathy had a lifelong love of cats (and had many feline friends over the years - Tawny, Tigre, Patches, Cassiopeia, and Occam). She also loved reading, watching college sports, decorating for Halloween, thrift stores, and garage sales. She was a formidable Scrabble opponent and a lover of language, especially Spanish and Italian. She also had an affinity for giraffes and rhinoceroses, the former because she wanted to be tall and the latter because, like her, they were very nearsighted. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends. She is survived by her husband Ron of Normal and two children, Sarah Duehr, Normal and Dr. James Duehr, Pittsburgh. She was preceded in death by her parents, grandparents, and aunt.