A pioneer resident of Grand Falls-Windsor has died. Katherine Mary Hatt passed peacefully away at Carmelite House in Grand Falls-Windsor on Monday, January 19th in her 101st year. Katherine was the eldest child of Stephen and Mary Fitzpatrick of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland. Known by many as "Kitty" she had a warm and inviting personality that made you a welcomed guest in her home in which she resided until she was 99 years of age. She enjoyed her garden, which was the envy of many, baking, travelling, playing cards, watching Jeopardy and of course family events. She was always up for a new adventure having travelled throughout the British Isles, the United States, especially Florida, Canada and of course her beloved Newfoundland and Labrador. Her greatest joy, however, was her family. Mrs. Hatt was a Charter member of the Catholic Women's League, a member of the Cadet Ladies and the Altar Guild at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Grand Falls-Windsor. In her early life she was a telephone operator in Bay Robert's before meeting and marrying her husband John Hatt of Grand Falls-Windsor on September 12, 1940. Katherine was predeceased by her infant son John Joseph, her husband John; her brother Ronald, his wife Flora; her brother Thomas, his wife Hazel and grandson Matthew Chaplin. She leaves with great memories and love her daughters Rosemary (William Keating); Pauline (Richard Chaplin); Brenda (Roger Pike) and her son John (Michelle). She was a loving grandmother to seven grandchildren Heather (Michael Switzer); Shannon (Peter Bombis); Carolyn (Allan Morgan); Sean (Jennifer Keating); Emily Hatt, Stephen Hatt and Paul Chaplin. She was a loving great-grandmother to Ryan and Jake Switzer; Claire and Charlotte Bombis, Clara and Lyla Keating and Caroline, Claire and Ben Chaplin. She also leaves many nieces, nephews and many friends in which she had a close and special bond. During her funeral mass Father William Hearn used the words of Isaac Watts 1719 to describe her life and faith. "A thousand ages in they sight are like an evening gone; short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun. Time, like an ever-rolling stream bears all its sons away they fly forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day." Katherine's pallbearers included: John Hatt, son; Brenda Pike, daughter; Kevin Crawley, life long friend; Richard Chaplin, son-in-law; Sean Keating, grandson and Stephen Hatt, grandson. Melody Beattie once wrote "gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance chaos to order, confusion to clarity. Gratitude can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." Family and friends are ever grateful for the life journey of Katherine Mary Hatt of Grand Falls-Windsor.

"Life is not forever, but love is."