Catherine Antolino Mervyn passed away at 3:00 a.m. on April 16, 2015 in her home while holding hands with her husband of nearly seventy years, William Mervyn.
Born Concetta Maria Grazia Antolino, Catherine was the oldest child of Giuseppe Antolino and Carmela Limotta. She born near the village of Vallata, Province of Avellino, Italy and spent her early childhood in the village of Bisaccia, Province, Avellino. Her father departed when she was four months old to join the Italian Army during WWI. Catherine recalled collecting shoe polish cans which the family used for their pots and pans to cook in. After the war her father traveled to the United States to look for work before sending for the family. For nearly eight years Catherine stayed with her mother who earned money as a seamstress while Catherine attended school taught by the nuns but after the 5th grade the school was abandoned. Her mother’s brother also traveled to America and helped Catherine’s father get a job with the Pennsylvania Rail Road. Her father located in Columbus, Ohio sent for his family, 13 year old Catherine and her mother who sailed on board the ship Columbo arriving in to the New Your Harbor June 27, 1928. Soon after, Catherine welcomed two more additions to the family, brother Ralph and sister Michelina “Mickey.” Catherine attended Chicago Avenue School on the west side of Columbus Ohio where she an influential teacher, Miss Grace Kearney. Kearney quoted a line from Samuel Johnson that made an indelible mark on Catherine, “Friendship does not lie in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice.” 
A few years later Catherine was set up in an arranged marriage to an older man. She bore two children, Gene Santoro and Ronnie Santoro. However her husband moved on and took the children, leaving Catherine with a decision on what to do with her life. Service to her country became a reoccurring theme and in 1943, at the age of twenty-eight, Catherine joined the US Army. Working as a telephone operator she was stationed in the Philippines. After the war ended in 1945, Catherine used the GI Bill to attend Ohio State. Her English was still evolving but she met another Army vet who helped her get through her classes and eventually married, William “Bill” Mervyn on June 30, 1948. She followed Bill’s teaching career in New Mexico and finally California. Catherine attended several colleges in obtaining her teaching credential including Ohio State University, Cal State University Fresno, UCSB and Cal Lutheran College where she received her Master’s. Catherine and Bill also started a family by adopting two children, Chris and David. 
Catherine’s first day of school in the Hueneme School District was September 13, 1965 at Parkview School where she taught grades 4 & 5 for fifteen years in Room 15. Catherine touched the lives of many of her students. She took great pride in teaching about the California Missions, Immigration to America and pride in the United States. She was a devout Catholic and proud American who let her strong beliefs permeate the classroom. Catherine also incorporated all modes of learning to help immerse the students in to learning. She would read to the class, do accompanying art projects, have the students’ perform plays, travel on field trips as a culminating activity. She also included sports and a class newspaper with student’s writings. Catherine often talked about her love for teaching saying they were the happiest years of her life. She continued teaching through the church after her retirement from public school.
Catherine was also prolific writer having published several books and articles. A Tower in the Valley, the History of the Santa Clara Church; Historic Moments with California Federation of Women’s Clubs; The Replication of the Father Serra Statue; children’s books including Sammy, Pepe and Mumbo-Jumbo; A Lesson from a Tree; Call Me Nona; Obie and the Open Door and Monkey in the Cage. 
Catherine also maintained lifelong communications with many of her former students including Rosemary Stewart, Lorayna Castro Gonzalez and Jeff Maulhardt. 
Special thanks go out to Catherine’s caregivers Dante Tabing and Barbara Scheibelhut who put in many long hours of dedicated and loving service. 
Catherine is survived by her siblings from Ohio, Ralph and Mickey, numerous nephews and nieces and her four children.