Catherine Delahunty | Sales associate, 88

Catherine Elkins Delahunty, 88, of Clifton Heights, a retired sales associate, died of multiple myeloma Friday, June 11, at Taylor Hospice in Ridley Park.

Mrs. Delahunty graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School. During World War II, she worked in the Army Quartermaster's Depot in Philadelphia and later was a secretary for the Curtis Publishing Co.

In 1953, she married Edward J. Delahunty, and they had seven children. He became ill, and she went to work part time at the J.C. Penney Co. department store in Upper Darby. He died in 1974, when their youngest child was 11 and the oldest was 19.

Mrs. Delahunty went to work full time, said a daughter, Katherine Vinci, and was proud that all her children graduated from college.

After retiring in the late 1980s, Mrs. Delahunty babysat her grandchildren.

Every Sunday, she had a family roast beef dinner. As many as 25 people showed up, and her daughter said Mrs. Delahunty would perform the miracle of the loaves and fishes, warming up extra rolls and slicing the meat thin.

In addition to her daughter Katherine, Mrs. Delahunty is survived by daughters Joanne Goldsmith, Teresa Lord, and Mary Patrick; sons Edward, Lawrence, and Bryan; 17 grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 15, at Rigby, Harting & Hagan Funeral Home, 15 E. Fourth St., Media, and from 9:30 a.m. followed by Mass at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 16, at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, 240 N. Bishop Ave., Springfield, Delaware County. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.