FounderLink |
June 2001 Volume 1, Number 1 |
Past Governor Catherine "Kate" Burns
Celebrates 80th Birthday
Catherine "Kate" Burns recently celebrated her 80th birthday and 36 years as a Soroptimist with her friends, family, and Founder Region members. Kate reflected on this birthday by saying, "What an opportunity to bring together in that evening all the memories and particularly the 36 years as a Soroptimist. This was a wonderful way to bring alive the tapestry of my life.
Kate Burns, past Region governor and Federation vice president, spent her early years in Oregon, first on a cattle ranch and later in town where her family owned a hotel. During the depression years, the mill closed and times were hard, and they eventually moved to Smith River, California and later to Eureka. With her mother and father working in the National Farm Loan office, she was able to attend Humboldt State College by living at home and riding a college commuter bus.
After college, she took a teaching position in Bakersfield, and found the next five years to be not only a good move professionally, but full of lots of activities during the years of World War II. When she married a transplanted New Yorker, she returned with him to Eureka, spending the next few years being mother to Michael and Chris and teaching in local schools. Kate tells us, "With 17 years of classroom experience, the opportunity arose to be a principal of another school. At last the additional college classes working for her masters degree and administrative credentials. She spent the next 25 years as principal four different schools and in due time she retired in 1982.
Retiring from the world of education was not the end of work for Kate. She then has been and office manager for a mortgage brokerage. As a Registered Parliamentarian, she has had the opportunity to meet and make many new friends.
Kate became a Soroptimist in 1964 after the death of her husband. Since that time, she has been busy with many Soroptimist responsibilities. She moved from being president of her local club to being a district director, Founder Region Governor, and Federation Vice President. Her varied experiences include brewing up 30 gallons of spaghetti sauce for her Eureka club's spaghetti dinner fund raiser and traveling internationally. At the present time, she is Chair of the Redwood Memorial Grove Committee.
She has had the opportunity to attend Soroptimist International conventions in Melbourne, Istanbul, and San Francisco, and a Soroptimist International board meeting in Barbados. Federation travels have taken her to conventions and charter parties in Kyoto, Toronto, Boston, St. Louis, Calgary, Denver, Hawaii, Saipan, and Guam.