CNBNews

Catherine Mary Tumminia (née Kordeck) was born on May 18, 1942, to Edward Anthony Kordeck and Catherine Mary Kordeck. Cathy grew up on Chase Street in Camden, NJ, and worked at a local movie theater. Cathy was an excellent student, and she graduated from Camden High School in 1960. Four years later, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Philadelphia’s Moore College of Art & Design. While at Moore, Cathy attended society events in Philadelphia to sketch for local publications, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, earning a modest income that she supplemented by drawing garments sent to her by clothing companies for use in promotional materials, a practice that would extend into her early married years.

Shortly after graduating from Moore, Cathy married Philip A. Tumminia, her Camden High classmate, in August 1964. Two years later, Cathy and Phil welcomed their daughter, Christine.  With Chris’s arrival, Cathy exchanged her sketch book for motherhood, and she became the consummate mother. She and Phil would complete their family by adding a son, Andrew, in 1975.

Bright and capable, Cathy was good at seemingly everything she tried. She was also introverted and wanted a quiet life. Although she would always be most comfortable at home, she loved spending time on special occasions with her large extended family. She passed time doing things she enjoyed: talking to her siblings, teaching her children, completing crossword puzzles, watching soap operas, listening to Beethoven and Mozart, rooting for the Phillies, and enjoying movies (especially, during her later years, those made by Hallmark). When she went out, it was to feed her appetite for culture at the art museum and symphony, and she nourished a passion for both in her children. She enjoyed a good laugh and a good meal, with crab cakes and snapper soup among her favorites. She looked forward to summer trips to the shore and had a special fondness for Cape May, where you can  find a commemorative brick or two bearing her name. Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday for the most Cathy of reasons: it brings family together.

A loving wife and devoted mother, Cathy will be desperately missed by her husband, Phil, her children, Christine and Andrew, and her daughter in-law, April Livingston. She will also be dearly missed by her siblings, Judith Malone, Jane Wilson, and Edward Kordeck, as well as by her sister-in-law, Karen Mazak. Cathy’s nieces, nephews, and godchildren, both by blood (Carol, Al, Tanya, Peter, David [Kordeck], Brian, and David [Wiatr]) and by marriage (Cathy and Susan), knew well, appreciated, and will miss Aunt Cathy’s kind and gentle ways.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend her visitation on Thursday, March 20, 9:45 to 10:45 AM at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, St. Vincent Pallotti Church, 901 Hopkins Rd., Haddon Twp., NJ 08033.  Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11:00 AM.  Interment private.

Arrangements by the FOSTER-WARNE FUNERAL HOME, Collingswood and Audubon, NJ.