Obituary of Kathryn Barrett

Kathryn L. Barrett, 97, died Thursday, November 18, 2010, at St. Anne's Retirement Community, Columbia, Pennsylvania. She was the mother of Margaret (Barrett) McMurtry of Willow Street, Pa., formerly of State College, Pa., and Norfolk, Va. She was born on January 2, 1913, in Pocahontas, Va., a daughter of Steve and Maria Gargaro Lotito. On August 29, 1936, in Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk, Va., she married Robert Severn Barrett. He died on September 24, 1946. Kathryn was a graduate of Pocahontas High School and St. Vincent de Paul School of Nursing in Norfolk in 1935. After Severn's death, she worked as a registered nurse in the office of Dr. William Taliaferro in Norfolk until 1973, and at the Ghent Nursing Home from 1973 until she retired in 1975. In 1994, she moved to Pulaski, Va., and lived with her sister, Josephine, and her husband Walter Wise. She moved to her daughter's home in State College in 2001, and then to St. Anne's in 2007. In addition to her daughter, Kathryn is survived by her grandchildren: George McMurtry, Jr., State College, Pa.; Severn McMurtry, Pittsburgh; Brian McMurtry, Terre Haute, Ind.; Cecilia Spoto, Phoenixville, Pa.; Maura Waggoner, Chesapeake, Va.; and Barrett McMurtry, Placerville, Calif.; eleven (11) great-grandchildren; a brother, Nicholas Lotito, Princeton, W.Va.; and three nieces and three nephews. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by five brothers: Tony, Dominic, Christopher, Ralph, and Frank; two sisters: Ann and Josephine; and two sets of sibling twins who died as infants. Memorial contributions may be sent to St. Anne's Retirement Community, 3952 Columbia Avenue, Columbia, PA 17512-9715. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 22, 2010, at St. Stephen, Martyr, Catholic Church, Chesapeake, Va. Interment will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk, Va.