Cathy Ann Wheeler

Cathy Ann Wheeler, most recently of Gilbert, Arizona, passed away on December 13, 2024, at age 76. Cathy, known to much of her family as “Sissy,” always cherished her family and friends. She brought love and exuberance to her favorite pastimes, which lately included cheering on her grandchildren at baseball fields and volleyball courts, travelling with her sister, and talking with friends and family over Starbucks. All who knew her will miss her tender and caring approach to life.

Cathy was always especially close to her father. Her dad, Owen Rudolph Irby, was born in Union County, Arkansas. He served with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and was a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down over the North Sea. After the war, Owen was sent by the Army to watchmaking school in Denver, Colorado, where he met his future wife, Rita Nell Travis, originally from Madison County, Iowa. Owen took Rita back to his hometown after their marriage, and Cathy was the second of their four children born in El Dorado, Arkansas. All her life, Cathy looked back fondly on her childhood memories in Arkansas, especially at the home of her paternal grandfather, William Walter Irby.

Cathy’s family relocated to Loveland, Colorado, in 1962, and she graduated from Loveland High in 1966. As an adult, Cathy would experience great joy and display remarkable resilience in the face of great challenges. Cathy married her high school sweetheart, Larry Dale White, in 1967. Their son Andrew Dale was born in 1969. Larry was tragically killed in a work accident before Andy’s first birthday. Some years later, Owen and Rita introduced their daughter to a young radio broadcaster, Steve Wheeler, originally from Evanston, Illinois, whom they met playing bridge. Cathy and Steve were married in March 1977. In talking to his mother, 7-year-old Andy excitedly referred to the nuptials as “our wedding.” The family settled in Longmont, Colorado, and Cathy and Steve added another son, Travis Monroe, born in 1979. Steve announced sports on the radio and managed Owen’s jewelry store in Boulder.

While Cathy worked for a time as a travel agent, her favorite vocation was that of a wife and mother. She showered love and attention on Steve, Andy, Travis, and all her nieces and nephews. Cathy and Steve enjoyed family weekends at Owen’s farm outside Longmont, weekly duplicate bridge games, acrostics and puzzles, country western line dancing, and live music. Skilled in all the domestic arts, Cathy could have taught a master class in home economics. In 1990, the family moved to Richmond, Virginia, where Steve continued sports announcing and was a letter carrier for over twenty years. For a time, displaying her versatility, Cathy owned and managed a tackle shop and convenience store in Richmond alongside Andy.

Andy moved back to Colorado before the birth of his daughter Brittany in 1995. Brittany would later stay for extended periods with her grandma and grandpa in Virginia, taking road trips in the Eastern United States. After graduating from the University of Virginia, Travis moved to Arizona to attend law school in 2004. In 2009, Travis and his wife, Sarah, had twin sons, Owen and Henry, who were born on Cathy’s 61st birthday. In 2013, they added a daughter, Leah. In 2014, upon Steve’s retirement from the post office, Cathy and Steve moved to Gilbert, Arizona, to be closer to them all. Sadly, Andy passed away in 2015. Then Steve suffered from progressive dementia that required him to move to assisted living in 2019. He passed away in January 2024. Cathy missed Andy and Steve every single day that she was without them.

Though extremely modest, Cathy was a truly talented, well-rounded person. From her mother Rita, whom she lost to breast cancer in 1982, Cathy inherited wit, vibrancy, and versatility. Cathy began to cook as soon as she was tall enough to reach the stove, and baking was a lifelong passion. Sissy’s family will always remember her pumpkin pies with homemade crust at holiday time and elaborately decorated birthday cakes. While her core cuisine was the honest Southern food with a Midwest influence of her roots, she also excelled later in life at exotic recipes—the more complicated the better, she would say. Not only an outstanding cook, baker, and cake decorator, Cathy was also gifted at crocheting, needlepoint, crafting, sewing, gardening, and jewelry making. She left many examples of her handiwork that her family will enjoy for generations. Cathy never bragged of herself, but only of her children and grandchildren, of whom she was extremely proud, considering them her greatest accomplishments. Though possessed of an unmistakable laugh and voice that carried, Cathy was truly a shy and self-conscious person. Yet, she had an endearing warmth and kindness that unfailingly put those around her at ease. Extremely thoughtful, Cathy would often go out of her way for surprising acts of kindness to others.

In recent years, Cathy continued to live life to the fullest. In particular, she loved cheering on her grandchildren at sporting events, spending weekends and holidays with family, coffee with her dear friend Roni, and travelling. She made multiple recent visits to Colorado to see her siblings Jan and Jo, her granddaughter Brittany, and their families. She also welcomed them all to her home in Gilbert. In May 2024, Cathy travelled with Travis and Jan to New York City to see the sights and to visit her brother Terry and his wife, Lily. While Cathy had plans for other trips, a terminal cancer diagnosis in October 2024 sadly took her away too soon. A beloved daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, she is dearly missed. A celebration of life service will be held in Niwot, Colorado, in January 2025.