August 6, 2009  

CROGHAN, N.Y.  —  Catherine Durkan Marilley, 79, died Wednesday, Aug. 5,  after a sudden illness at Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown.   

Born Catherine Fay Durkan on Feb. 24, 1930, she attended Holy Family School and Watertown High School, graduating June 1948. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Rochester in 1952 and attended graduate school at Boston University thereafter.  

Catherine married James Maurice Marilley on Aug. 29, 1953. She was married to James for 56 years this month.   

From 1968 to 2006, James nad Catherine were co-proprietors of E.M. Marilley & Company. 

In the fall of 1972, Catherine was elected as board member to the Beaver River Central School District. She served on the District School Board until the end of June 1989, during a significant period of her tenure she served as school board president. 

She also served an open term on the scholarship selection committee for the Northern New York Community Foundation Scholarship Program for several decades overseeing the trust fund for Ralph J. and Marie Gilligan Marilley.   

After 55 years of residence and business practice in Croghan, the couple joined the Ives Residential Retirement Community in Watertown in 2008.  

Catherine, "Katie" to her friends and family, leaves behind her husband James, 84; daughter Suzanne Marilley-Burke and spouse Robert P. Burke of Bexley, Ohio; sons, David J. Marilley and spouse Cynthia Piko, MD of Northville Township, Michigan, James A. Marilley and spouse Susan K. Marilley, Huntington Beach, Calif., and William Durkan Marilley and spouse Andrea T. Marilley, Watertown; as well as 11 grandchildren. 

To the members of the community and to her family, Catherine was always known to be an active member of St. Stephens Church, as well as a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother.   

A funeral Mass will be said 11 a.m. Monday, Aug. 10, at Holy Family Church in Watertown. Burial will follow in St. Stephens Cemetery, Croghan. Calling hours will be 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, at Cleveland Funeral home, Watertown. 

Donations in her name may be made to the scholarship fund for Ralph J. and Marie Gilligan Marilley, care of the Northern New York Community Foundation Scholarship Program.
 

Information provided by Becker-Cleveland Funeral Home and Newzjunky.com, Watertown