Catherine 'Cathy' Ann Bonham Brenneman, 59
Catherine “Cathy” Ann Bonham Brenneman died peacefully of natural causes at 11:40 p.m. on April 13, 2017, after a long and joyous life, surrounded by loved ones and music. She was 59 years old.
Cathy was born in Hamilton, Alabama, to Robert Eugene Bonham and Catherine Louise Keathley on Aug. 1, 1957. She and her family moved around the South until settling in Newtown, Pennsylvania, when Cathy was in middle school. In 1976, she left Pennsylvania to attend college in Bluffton, Ohio, where she studied elementary education.
After graduation, Cathy worked as a teacher in Pennsylvania for several years before relocating to Kalispell to start a family and eventually pursue a master’s degree in social work. As a social worker, she spent many years traveling the state, working in children’s mental health services, and she dearly valued the friendships she made in the schools she served. In the final years of her life, she worked as the executive director of the Nurturing Center in Kalispell, where she had a strong, devoted team whose support she cherished and relied on. She lived and worked in Kalispell until her death.
Music was one of the driving forces in Cathy’s life and something she shared with all who knew her. She was discovering and sharing new songs up until the end. She loved to sing and her voice always shone through the congregation at Mountain View Mennonite Church. She loved live music and delighted in going to concerts with her close friends and, especially, with her children and their friends. They will never cease to be amazed at the number of hours she drove in a crowded van to take them to shows in Oregon, Washington, California and beyond. She gave them the gift of music and it is one of the ways they will celebrate her for the rest of their lives.
Cathy was known to all who encountered her as a light of life. She connected people like nobody else, and poured her heart into the people and causes she cared about. She cared deeply about peace and justice. She had a tender heart for animals, a passion for helping people, a phenomenal and often devilish sense of humor, and a love of life. Cathy believed in seizing opportunities, giving selflessly and generously, and making everybody feel welcome; one of the great joys of her life was seeing her home in Kalispell grow to include many friends and family. It can safely be said that, if she knew you, she loved you. But the true loves of her life were her two children, Jesse and Erin Brenneman, and she treasured the opportunity to watch them grow and explore the world and expand their own families. Cathy leaves a legacy of unconditional love, and it is a legacy that those who knew her will carry on.
Cathy is survived by her father, Robert Bonham, of Kalispell; her brother, Rusty Bonham, and wife Mary Lou Bonham, of Portland; her brother, Thomas Bonham, and wife Cindy Bonham, of Belton, Missouri; her son, Jesse Brenneman, and wife Catherine Lea, of Brooklyn, New York; her daughter, Erin Brenneman, of Portland; her auxiliary children, Bente and Kenneth Grinde, of Missoula; and countless friends and acquaintances who shared in her vibrant spirit. She will be missed and she will be celebrated.
A celebration of Cathy’s life will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, at Mountain View Mennonite Church. The family asks that, in lieu of gifts or flowers, donations be made to the Nurturing Center.