CATANESE

DEBORAH HETRICK

Beloved wife of John Catanese. Cherished mother of Christina Catanese (Ken Hendrickson) and Brian Catanese. Proud and delighted grandmother of Livia Hendrickson. Sister of Donna Hetrick (Daniel Vito) and Diane Hetrick (Denis Martynowych). Preceded in death by her parents, Herbert Hetrick, Jr. and Esther Hetrick Dugoni (nee Fleischman). Also survived by nieces, nephews, cousins, and many, many friends.

A lifelong Pittsburgher, Deborah loved the world. She could find beauty anywhere, from the most grandiose vistas to the tiniest flower. Trees captivated her most of all. She traveled to over 20 countries with her husband John and passed down this love of travel, as well as a broad and generous perspective on humanity, to her children.

Deborah's curiosity, adaptability, and tenacity knew no bounds. After majoring in English at Pitt, she worked a wide range of jobs (from banking to women's health) before going back to Pitt for an M.S. in Information Science in the 1980s. She believed in the promise of computers and the digital age to positively transform the world and was deeply disappointed that many of those promises had been perverted or gone unfulfilled. With an entrepreneurial spirit, she and her husband started several successful small businesses, including selling imported goods from Latin America, selling Christmas trees, and a 20-year run as owners of Minuteman Press of the South Side. Refusing to be easily categorized, she relished shopping and getting dressed up as much as roughing it in nature, and loved attending lectures, ballets, and symphonies as much as closely following Pittsburgh sports. She always had the most successful March Madness bracket in the family.

Later in life, Deborah found enormous joy and success in writing. Her poetry and prose works were published in journals and books both in print and online. She honed her craft, built a community of writers, and attended many meaningful writing retreats and events. At the time of her death, she had been working on a semi-autobiographical creative nonfiction short story about a coven of witches. She also contributed a sharp editorial eye to everything from blogs to her children's English papers; she compiled and published three cookbooks of the recipes of cherished family members and friends, and a book of a late friend's poetry, as fundraisers.

Deborah could always access joy and laughter even in the hardest times. She stood up for what she believed in and modeled how to embrace the full range of experiencing life. She loved her people dearly and saw good in everyone. She was always there with a helping hand, a listening ear, and a great story. She loved gathering people together and threw many incredible parties, from birthdays to tea parties to epic annual Easter egg hunts, and perhaps most memorably, the turn of the new millennium. She never missed a chance to dance, especially if the Rolling Stones were involved.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Epiphany Roman Catholic Church on Saturday, January 31 at 10 AM where the family will receive friends in the church social hall from 11 AM - 12 noon. Interment to follow. In lieu of flowers, Deborah requested donations be sent to the Allegheny Land Trust. Arrangements by JOHN A. FREYVOGEL SONS, INC.

(freyvogelfuneralhome.com)