Cate Comerford, 69, was born on Feb. 20, 1954, in San Diego, California and died Jan 17, 2024 after battling Lewy Body Dementia for the past year. She will be remembered in so many ways by so many people.
Cate received her undergraduate degree and Master of Fine Arts from Boston University in 1976. While there, she was a national champion in rowing during Title IX. Cate later received her Masters of Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1985 and opened up her first practice in New York City. Cate and her wife, Stephanie, met in 1999 in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, a small seaside town on the Jersey Shore, known for its Victorian Architecture. In many ways it is like Port Townsend, which Cate moved to in 2011. She began a practice in Architecture and Interior Design in PT shortly thereafter. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation asked Cate to join as a member of their board. She served for 3 years. Cate was also a member of the Port Townsend Historic Preservation Board and the Main Street Committee. Cate made an impact on the aesthetic of many streets and homes in Port Townsend proper and outlying neighborhoods, Cape George and Kala Point. Cate quickly got back into rowing and joined the local club, Rat Island Rowing, where she made great friends and comrades on the water and off. She will forever be remembered by the rowing communities of Notre Dame, Boston University and Port Townsend.
Cate is survived by her wife Stephanie, who resides in Port Townsend, her son Dr Philip Comerford Mann and Dr Tricia Ray and their two children of Lake Oswego, Oregon, and her son, Kenneth Mann, his wife, Lorna, and Cate’s other two grandchildren of Glasgow, Scotland. She is also survived by her sister Sarah Comerford of Captain Cook, HI, brother John Comerford, of Colorado and her brother Joe Comerford of Kansas.
Memorial donations can be made in Cate’s honor to the Lewy body dementia association, www.lbda.com.
