Age 97, has recently passed away.
Born and raised in County Offaly, Ireland, Kit emigrated to America from London, England in 1947 and made her home for many years in St. Paul. Preceding her in death were her husband Donald Carley, her son Sean Nicholson, her grandson Patrick Nicholson, and four of her great-grandchildren, as well as her parents and each of her fourteen brothers and sisters. Cathy is survived by her sons Michael (Charlotte) Nicholson and Kevin Nicholson, her grandchildren Casey (Nicholas) Martens, Katie (Andy) Oelker, Connor (Liz) Nicholson, Colin Nicholson, Kelly (Matt) Nicholson and Maura (Nina) Nicholson, and by seven great-grandchildren Gavin and Brendan Martens, Marley and Leah Oelker, Sean Nicholson and Regan and Ruby Bartlett.
Kit’s father was a quarryman and laborer in Ireland, and later, in London. Her mother Katie raised Kit and her brothers and sisters, with five sadly dying in childhood. Like her siblings, she attended school in Ireland until age 14 and then went to London in search of permanent employment, given the lack of jobs at home. With her family, Kit lived in London’s East End, in Canning Town, immediately adjoining the docks of London. She arrived there in 1942, during the German bombing of the East End, spending many nights in Underground station shelters. Much of her neighborhood was destroyed by bombs, but luckily all in her family survived.
Late in the War Years, Kit obtained a job as a table server at the exclusive Savoy Hotel in London’s West End, a job only open to women because of the shortage of civilian men due to the War. She daily waited on the Savoy’s exclusive clientele, including the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and Laurel and Hardy. One of her regular customers was Australian diplomat Norman Makin, posted to London during the war, who often dined at the Savoy with his family. After the War, Makin was chosen as the first president of the United Nations Security Council and as Australian ambassador to the United States. In that capacity, he offered 20-year-old Kit a job as a maid in Australia’s Washington D.C. embassy.
While in Washington, Cathy met and in 1949 married her first husband Thomas Nicholson and settled with him in Saint Paul after his discharge from the U.S. Army. There they raised three sons (Michael, Kevin and Sean) and made many friends in the various restaurants in which Kit worked, most especially those who worked at Little Canada’s Venetian, owned by her life-long friends the Vitale family. Her co-workers and many customers became Cathy’s friends for life, sharing life’s joys and sorrow. After her divorce, Cathy married Donald Carley of Saint Paul, and Don’s five children joined Kit’s extended family.
In her 93rd year, Kit moved to Michigan to be close to her son Michael and his family in Ann Arbor.
They were able to help her to stay in her independent living apartment until the final week of her life. Her many “Lurie Terrace friends” joined Kit’s circle of life and love. She will be missed by all.
Funeral Mass will be held at 9:30 a.m. on December 16, 2024 at St. Louis the King Catholic Parish in downtown St. Paul, with interment thereafter at Fort Snelling Military Cemetery. A reception for family and friends will follow later in the afternoon at the Little Venetian in Little Canada.