Catherine Guthrie Lindauer

Catherine Guthrie Lindauer of Highlands Ranch, CO, died peacefully on April 14 th , after 98 wonderfully
full years. She was born in Doleib Hill, Egyptian Sudan, on January 25, 1925, the fourth child of Cuthbert
Burrell and Anna Mary Barackman Guthrie, Presbyterian agricultural missionaries. Upon their death not
long after Catherine was born, she and her siblings were sent to the United States and raised separately
by different relatives. Catherine was raised by her uncle Edward Sewell and Margaret Faye Watterson
Guthrie in Ithaca, NY, where Edward was a professor of Dairy Industry at Cornell University.
Catherine attended Iowa State University and in 1944 was initiated into the Omega chapter of Gamma
Phi Beta sorority. She graduated in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics with a major in
Child Development.
College was also where she met her future husband, John William Lindauer, on a blind date at the Phi
Kappa Psi fraternity picnic, and they married on September 5, 1947. The couple lived in Portland, OR,
from 1948 to 1970 where they raised their three children, Christi, Bill, and Steve. They moved to Denver,
CO, in 1970.
Cathy was a devoted wife, mother, and volunteer. She held many leadership positions while raising her
three children including seven years as a Girl Scout leader, chair and president of the American Field
Service Homes Selection committee, PTA president, treasurer of the Littleton Newcomers club,
kindergarten teacher at her church, and a variety of committee memberships at Hope United Methodist
Church. In 2001 she and her husband John won the “Sam Day Good News Disciple Award” for
volunteerism at Hope UMC.
She was especially devoted to the sisterhood of Gamma Phi Beta sorority. She held many volunteer
positions especially in her alumnae chapters and held various positions on the international level,
including chairing the 1980 and 1990 conventions. In 1991 she won the Denver Area Panhellenic Woman
of the Year award. Her daughter Christi and three granddaughters are all Gamma Phis.
Cathy’s other hobby was button collecting. She became the “face” of button collecting in Colorado with
a 1974 Denver Post article titled “Buttons, Buttons….Boy, Have They Got Buttons!”, which featured this
unique hobby of collecting antique clothing buttons and competing against other collectors in annual
button shows including the one in Denver. Cathy held at least eight leadership positions in the Colorado
State Button Society, including Show Chair.
Cathy was also an avid bridge player and golfer. She was particularly proud of her hole in one. Even in
her nineties when her vision had declined, she was playing three bridge games a week.
More than anything, Cathy loved her family. She taught them the importance of creating a loving family.
She is survived by her daughter Christi Kilpatrick (David) of Wales, WI, son Steve Lindauer (Katie) of
Castle Rock, CO, and daughter-in-law Shelley Lindauer of Logan, UT, and nine grandchildren and 12 great
grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, you can contribute to Hope United Methodist Church, the Gamma Phi Beta
Foundation, the Colorado State Button Society, or Denver Hospice.