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Born March 16, 1945, Cathy Neary McGuirk grew up in Westport. She loved her life there but always said she was a “normal” Westporter. Cathy always missed really knowing her mother, who died from R.A. when Cathy was 7. Cathy was also predeceased by her brother, Michael. She spent many happy days with her dad both in the home and helping with his electrical appliance store. She especially enjoyed time out with him fishing in his boat.

After elementary school in Westport, Cathy attended Central Catholic High School in Norwalk where she was chosen “Best Female Athlete”. She played every sport her physical education teacher could find in those pre-Title IX days.

Her love of sport and kids took Cathy to Southern Connecticut State College where, beyond class work, she excelled as a field hockey goalie. Playing a shorter schedule than today’s teams and wearing much less protection, Cathy was unscored on in four years.

After graduating, Cathy taught for three years at Roxbury Elementary School in Stamford, teaching 12 classes each day as well as doing lunch and bus duty, and loved it all. She especially enjoyed working with the early grades, loving their enthusiasm and desire to try anything.

Cathy and her husband John, whom she had married Aug. 17, 1968, had to make a choice on where to settle as John was teaching at North Branford High School. They decided on the lifestyle of east of New Haven and never regretted doing do. Cathy taught for one year at East Haven Middle School. She then moved to Branford where she finished her 32-year teaching career, all at the middle school level.

Cathy loved teaching in Branford and the town became her home for 49 wonderful years. It was said that Cathy McGuirk could be the greeter at the Branford Festival as she knew and was known by so many.

Beyond teaching, Cathy became the Branford High School Field hockey coach in 1977 and continued at that position for 41 seasons, retiring after the 2017 season as sole SCC Champions once again that year. No Connecticut high school field hockey coach ever won as many games (558) or state championships (10). In a league where Branford was not one of the larger schools, her teams won 17 league titles and advanced to the elite Final Four of the state tournament an amazing 29 times in 38 seasons, including her last year. Cathy was inducted into eight halls of fame, was National Coach of the Year in special sports in 1994, was awarded the Connecticut Sportswriter’s Gold Key, and in 2019 was the lone high school coach inducted into the National High School and Collegiate Field Hockey Hall of Fame.

Cathy loved physical activity and playing sports from softball to golf. For years in the winter, she had a group of friends that played competitive ping pong games in her basement. Her first love was tennis as she loved competitiveness and challenge of hustling to chase down balls. In the early ’70s she was a tennis champion in a Branford Recreation tournament.

Cathy and John traveled widely, hitting 49 states, Europe, Kenya, and several Caribbean islands. They stayed 14 times on their favorite island of St. John in the American Virgin Islands at Caneel Bay.

She loved reading novels and always had two going at once. She very much enjoyed gardening and observing nature in all its glory, especially birds.

If you saw Cathy, her husband and best friend John was usually not far away. John, a history teacher and longtime softball coach at North Branford High School, coached field hockey with Cathy from 1980 through 2017.

Cathy died from the effects of ALS on May 31, 2021. She will be missed by so many because she was loved by so many. Cathy always focused on whoever she was with and seemed to always remember things about everyone she met. Of course, it was because she truly loved people and, in return, so many people loved Cathy.

Friends are invited to call from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 6, at W.S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home, 244 North Main Street, Branford. Eulogies to begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 7 at St. Mary Church (St. John Bosco Parish) 731 Main Street, Branford, followed by a Mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. Masks are optional at church. Burial will follow in St. Agnes Cemetery.