Catherine Garhart Quinn passed away peacefully on July 13, 2024. She was born in Sharon, PA on June 24, 1945, to Bernard and Anne Garhart. Her family moved to Falls Church City when she was three years old just before it was incorporated as a city in 1948 when her father Bernard Garhart got a job teaching math at Falls Church High School.
She attended St. James Elementary School and was in the third graduating class of Bishop D.J. O’Connell High School. She left Falls Church City only briefly when she attended Maryview Nursing School in Portsmouth, Virginia. Her carrer began at Georgetown University Hospital where she worked in hospital and medical center where she coordinated the multi-disciplinary Spina Bifida clinic. In the early ‘70s she was a part of the first group of nurses to become licensed Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. She left Georgetown in 1983 and her career continued in her hometown of Falls Church City when she went to work at Watson & Salsbury Pediatrics, now Capital Area Pediatrics. She worked at the practice until her retirement in 2008, during this time she treated many of the children of the community.
In 1971 she married her Husband Paul Quinn, they moved back into Falls Church City in 1978 to raise their two boys. She had a love of collecting, most notably dolls, that would take her and Paul into the Antiques business starting the Falls Church Antique Company on Broad Street which Paul continues to operate today. Her love of all things historical would land her as Chair of the Historical Commission in the 1990s working to preserve historical homes like the one they lived in on East Jefferson Street, the Copper/Flag house. Even in her retirement Cathy refused to leave the City of Falls Church.
Catherine is survived by her husband, Paul Quinn, who stood by her side for 53 years of marriage. She is also survived by her sons: David Quinn and his spouse Christine, along with their children Delaney (14), Andrew (10), and Amanda (10); and Matthew Quinn and his spouse Katy Moore, along with their daughter Karys (6). Siblings: Carol, Charles (Chuck), Richard (Rick), Ben.
Catherine’s life will be celebrated with a wake on July 22 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Murphy’s Funeral Home in Falls Church, and a funeral mass that will be held on Monday, August 5, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Covenant House (covenanthousegw.org), Shriners Hospitals for Children (shrinerschildrens.org), or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org).
