Nellie Cathryn Strand Sept. 24, 1913-Aug. 14, 2012

Nellie Cathryn Strand September 24, 1913 to August 14, 2012. Nellie Cathryn Strand was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who lived to be 98 years old (just one month shy of 99), outliving her husband Paul and two of her children, James Edwin Strand and Lawrence Richard Strand.
Born in Meridian, Mississippi, Cathryn would move with her mother and sister through several southern states, ending up in a Catholic orphanage in Alabama where her mother went through nurse training.
Her mother’s nursing career led her to live in different locations, including Cleveland, Ohio. Here Cathryn met her husband Paul while working in a drugstore. After a proper courtship, Paul and Cathryn went to Mobile, where they were married in front of a judge in 1933. They moved back to Cleveland and lived with Paul’s Swedish parents in a loving home.
Their first child, Paul Lee, was born in Cleveland. But the next five would be reared in California, where they went to live near Paul’s missionary uncle in Glendale.
Settled in Glendale, Cathryn would work again as a clerk in a drug store, and eventually work for the State of California Rehabilitation Department.
From Glendale to Borrego Springs, to Ramona, to Julian, and back to Glendale, mother followed Paul over the years with their six children while Paul made a living in real estate.
During those years, Cathryn would join Paul in all his adventures: fishing, golf, tennis, local travel, etc. She could reel in a large fish alongside his shipmates as well as anyone.
After Paul died, Cathryn continued to stay active. She attended knitting classes and completed many blankets, purses, dolls, and scarves for her children and grandchildren. Recently she frequented the Burbank Joslyn Senior Center where she continued her knitting, stayed for their lunches and learned to play Bingo.
During Cathryn’s life, she was a devoted member of the Bethany Bible Presbyterian Church in Glendale; the church’s pastor and congregation gave her a structure of Sunday meetings, missionary meetings, travel outings, etc., which greatly sustained her as she grew more fragile.
Cathryn will be greatly missed, but not forgotten, by all of her friends and family. She is survived by her four children: Paul Lincoln Strand, Bonnie Christine Strand, John Owen Strand, and Alice Kathleen Borhaug; and 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.