Obituary 

Remembering

Catherine Valle Friedman

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On September 14th, 2020, we mourned the passing of our dearly beloved wife, mother and grandmother, Catherine Liggayu Valle-Friedman. Catherine was 71 years of age and passed away after a 5 year battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and ALS.

Catherine was a first generation Filipino American born in San Francisco in 1949 to Francisco and Virtudes Valle. As a daughter of a career military man, Catherine was well integrated into the United States Military family unions and services where she played guitar often in USO events where military families and enlisted soldiers congregate. It was at one of these events that Catherine met her future first husband, Mr.William Walter Hedrick of Enid, Oklahoma. She subsequently started a family with Mr. Hedrick and gave birth to a daughter and son. Their marriage did not last and after a divorce, Catherine moved her family back to California. Mr. Hedrick passed away in 1996. In 2000, Catherine met the love of her life and married Stanley Darryl Friedman in 2004. They lived together blissfully in Pinole, California until her death.

Catherine was a woman of bold and courageous spirit. Always striving to help her community and her loved ones. She walked different career paths throughout her working life; a successful certified Ortho-bionomist, an insurance underwriter for New York Life Insurance Company and prior to her early retirement, a police dispatcher for the University of California, San Francisco Police Department. In her free time, she dedicated many hours and years to the American Red Cross. At one point, Catherine was the chief volunteer of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. Hard to believe how she found the time, but Catherine also made time for important hobbies such as photography and jewelry making. Catherine was an avid reader and scholar and was fluent in Greek and Latin languages and loved country music. She also had a deep spiritual connection and open-mindedness to many different spiritual paths that shaped her belief system. She was born a Catholic and integrated a belief system that included Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism and everything in between.

Catherine is survived by her son, Tomas, her daughter, Adrianne, and her 3 grandchildren Mia, Kaela and Sydney. Catherine is also survived by her daughter-in-law, Hasian who Catherine loved like her own daughter. Lastly, Catherine is survived by her most attentive, selfless, loving husband, Stanley, who courageously and dutifully cared for Catherine until the day she passed away. Stanley and Catherine shared a great love story together, shared many happy memories travelling together; and he was by her side when she took her last breath. The Valle-Friedman family will miss her gentleness, wisdom and ever loving heart. She will forever be remembered.