Sofie Cato

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our mother, Sofie Christine Cato (nee Molgaard) on Sunday, November 9th, 2014, at the Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, BC. She had celebrated her 91st birthday four days earlier. Sofie was born in the small village of Jakobshavn (now Ilulissat), Greenland on November 5th 1923. She was the eldest of two, her brother Peter four years younger. Sofie lived with her parents and maternal grandparents in a small house just outside of the village centre, where her grandfather had a bakery. Sofie was close to her grandfather and often spent time with him at his bakery, helping him prepare breads, or doing errands for him. Sofie excelled in school and took odd jobs, including babysitting, from an early age to help earn money for her family. In March 1940, at the age of 17, she travelled to Denmark with a family as their nanny. While there, Denmark was invaded by Germany and at a young age Sofie was stranded far away from home and from her family. She was unable to stay with the family that had employed her, but found work and boarding on a farm outside of Copenhagen and various other jobs over the next couple of years. In 1942, a girlfriend convinced her to attend a servicemens dance, where she met her future husband, Henry Cato. It was love at first sight but Sofie still made Henry ask on several occasions before she gave him her phone number. Henry proposed Christmas Eve, 1944 and Sofie moved into a spare room at her future in laws apartment. Life was difficult under Nazi occupation but Sofie always spoke of those years with fondness for her in laws and for Denmark. The two were married February 7th 1948 and settled into their own apartment. Sofie found employment as a seamstress, making mens suits and coats. In 1951 Henry arrived home and announced he was going to Canada, and did Sofie want to come along? Always up for an adventure, and recognizing the opportunities Canada offered, Sofie organized their travel arrangements, sold off their furniture and items they were not taking with them, and set sail with Henry on the Queen Mary, bound for New York and ultimately their final destination of Vancouver, Canada. Arriving in Vancouver with little money and not a word of English between them, Henry looked for work in the steel industry and Sofie set up home, first in a rented room, and then in an attic apartment. With her warm personality, Sofie quickly made friends in her new home, many of whom were to become lifelong friends. Once settled into their new life and Henry employed regularly, Sofie found work at the Hudsons Bay in downtown Vancouver in the mens department where she worked for several years. She and Henry spent many of their weekends camping and exploring the areas around Vancouver and on Vancouver Island. Sofie left the Hudsons Bay in 1962 when their dreams of a family were realized with the arrival of John, and then Mike in 1964. The new family settled into life in a house Port Coquitlam, where Sofie could tend a garden and raise her family. In 1972, the family moved to Campbell River, an area they had frequently holidayed and enjoyed. The entire family pitched in with the building of the house at 4460 Barclay Road, including Sofie, who between keeping every one fed and looked after, stuffed the attic with insulation. Sofie loved her two boys and loved being a mother. She was often at home on her own with the boys as Henrys work took him out of town regularly. She enjoyed helping out at the school when John and Mike were younger and was known to be up late decorating special cakes the night before a birthday. She and Henry built a large garden and beautiful yard, where she grew all of her own vegetables and fruit, and thousands of flowers. Sofie was always generous with her time, her home, her skills, and her garden, and always had the door open and the coffee pot on for everyone, whether you were a friend or someone she had just met. She loved to visit with friends and family, and always had homemade cake and cookies to share or send with you when you left. When Sofie became a proud grandmother, she loved nothing more than spending time with her three grandchildren. As her grandsons grew, they excelled in sports and their Nana was their number one fan, attending games to cheer them on and cutting out their newspaper clippings, making numerous scrapbooks. Her grandsons were her pride and joy. While raising her family, Sofie sold Avon for several years to many women in Campbell River, making good friends and earning herself some pocket money. One of the first things she bought herself was her yellow topaz ring, which she always wore as yellow topaz was her birth stone. When John and Mike were in their teens, the family travelled back to Denmark and Sweden to visit family the first time Sofie and Henry had been back since leaving in 1952. Once the boys were grown, Sofie and Henry loved to travel to Reno, as both loved the casinos and spent many enjoyable hours plunking pennies and nickels into the slot machines, more often than not beating the odds. In recent years, their enjoyment continued closer to home with the opening of the casinos in Nanaimo and then Campbell River. Their trips would often start with one of them asking if the other wanted to go for a drive. Sofie will be remembered for her warm, caring personality, her generosity, her adventurous spirit and her always present, beautiful smile. Even through difficult times, and the challenges she faced over the last few years, Sofie always had a smile. Sofie is predeceased by her husband and love of her life Henry, in 2010. She is survived by her sons John (Vicky) and Mike (Christa), and her grandsons Ben, Geoff and Dan. Sofies family would like to thank the staff at Royal Jubilee hospital for their excellent care and compassion, as well as the staff at Glenwarren Lodge. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimers Society of BC. In loving memory of a life so beautifully lived and a heart so deeply loved.