Service Details

Celebration of Life
Saturday, January 19 @ 5pm
LeMay Collection at Marymount
325 152nd St E., Tacoma, WA 98445

The Story

Catherine Ann Roppo (Cathy) was born March 5, 1947 in Tacoma, Washington to Mary Olive and John Robert McNeall. She was raised in Seattle, Washington. Cathy was blessed as a young child to have lived next to Irene and her parents. The family welcomed Cathy and she spent as much time there as she did her own house for many years. Irene married Tom, and had their own children – Patty and Robert. Patty and Cathy were raised as sisters with only a few years separating them. Mary, Cathy’s mom had a 2nd marriage while Cathy was in grade school adding a step sister and brother, Barb and Harold, to her life. After a few years, Mary remarried for a 3rd time and Wally Quamme joined her life for years to come. Meanwhile, while growing up Cathy did not have the opportunity to spend time with her biological father. That changed later in her adulthood, and she became close to her father John McNeall and his wife Claire.

Cathy married Steve Dobbs in her late teens and had her first child – Mary. After a divorce and a few years later, she married Robert (Bob) Marquard who had one child—Charlie. They added a 3rd child to the family—Susan. The family moved south to Des Moines Washington to raise their family. During that time, boating was one of the family activities. Bob was involved in owning, and driving race boats. Friends would spend time at Cathy and Bob’s house while working on cars and boats. One of the family annual vacations included camping, boating and waterskiing at Banks Lake in Eastern Washington. They also enjoyed a special Thanksgiving travelling to Arizona for a boat race and visiting Disneyland on the way there.

In her 30’s, Cathy remarried to Frank Roppo who she met at parents without partners dance in Normandy Park. After a joyful courtship, they married, adding Frank’s sons Mark, Frank Jr and Todd to the family. This is when Cathy reconnected with her father who loved to travel. He soon invited Cathy and Frank to join him and his wife on various vacations. During this same time Mary, Cathy’s oldest daughter, married and brought lots of joy into Cathy’s life with 2 grandchildren—David and Andrew Eck. Over the years, Cathy was blessed with many grand children.

Cathy enjoyed family, cooking, travelling, reading, motorsports, and soccer. She travelled with many family members and friends over the years for pleasure and to watch races of all kinds. She enjoyed cruises exploring Tahiti, British Virgin Islands, Alaska, New England and Mexico. Cathy also explored many parts of the U.S. with her travel partners, including South Carolina, Florida, Hawaii, California and Arizona as well as several trips to Canada.

Soccer and basketball both had a special meaning to Cathy. She enjoyed cheering for her family members as well as helping coach soccer teams. She also enjoyed playing soccer as an adult.
Cathy had a strong work ethic and enjoyed working. Employed in the automotive industry for many years for Victory Auto Bumpers in Seattle and Nordan in Lynwood, she eventually found work closer to home in Des Moines supporting mobile home sales. She became a city clerk for the City of Des Moines, later. After Cathy retired from the City of Pacific as a Court Administrator, she joined the Soroptimists International of Anacortes, volunteered at their local thrift shop and at the boys and girls club. She was also an active member of the Bayside Homeowners Association. Cathy enjoyed the nurturing, caring community of Anacortes and the friends she made.

Cathy was known for her generosity and kindness, always welcoming guests into her house and making them feel at home. She was a dear friend to many, while overall she was shy – she would easily and quickly become friends with those around her and contributed much laughter and joy.

Cathy passed away at the age of 71 in her Anacortes home surrounded by family on November 29, 2018 after a series of hemorrhagic stokes.

She was proceeded in death by her husband, Frank Roppo and her grandson David Eck (2017). She is survived by daughters Mary, Susan (spouse Craig), sons, Mark (Lori), Frank (Jenny), Charles (Bonnie), Todd (Jennifer), and 13 grandchildren (Andrew & Deedee, Mikeala, Jimmy, Taylor, Gabrielle, Alana, Kyle, Kierra, Jake, Conner, Trey, Hannah), and 7 great grandchildren (AJ, Aubrey, Bannon, Mason, Brooke, Austin, Jojo).

Memorial contributions may be made to Mary’s Place – Mary’s Place provides safe, inclusive shelter and services that support women, children and families on their journey out of homelessness. https://www.marysplaceseattle.org