Catherine C. O'Rourke

Catherine C. O’Rourke

Portland, ME. - Catherine O’Rourke, 85, of Capisic St. died peacefully on Wednesday, October 29, 2019, at her home in Portland.

Catherine, who went by the nickname “Mickey” much of her life, was born October 9, 1934 to parents Johanna and James Sullivan. She spent her first 28 years in New York, and she was a Brooklyn girl in her heart her whole life.

Catherine attended St. Francis Xavier High School in Brooklyn. She was married in 1958 to John H. Dugan, who would work at the State Department. The family moved to Bowie, MD., where she raised a family. In the late 1970s, mid-life, she re-trained and became a court stenographer for the D.C. Superior Court. After the death of her first husband, Catherine married Fred O’Rourke and moved to New England. In her varied working life, she’d worked as a flight attendant for BOAC in the golden age of flight, owned a children’s bookstore in Annapolis, MD., and worked as secretary to the cook at The Balsams resort in New Hampshire.

Catherine’s cheerful personality and her way with people were characteristics noted by all who knew her. All her cheerful love, her wise, competent, gritty and maternal love – she poured into the raising of her children. She loved to read, loved her dogs, and followed current events. Catherine was an ardent baseball fan, with her allegiances always with the home team: the Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers; the Jim Palmer Orioles; finally, the Big Papi Red Sox. Clearly, she was as successful as a fan as at everything else she did.

Catherine was predeceased by her sister Joan. Surviving her are her children John Dugan (and his wife Felisa) and Joanne Colvin; also surviving are her sisters Patricia and Maureen, and her brother Michael. She leaves behind a circle of loving friends in Portland, many of whom she met at the USM gym.

A service and internment will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday, November 5 at Calvary Cemetery (1461 Broadway, South Portland), followed by a reception for friends and family at Foreside Tavern (270 US Route 1; Falmouth, ME.). Arrangements are under the direction of A.T. Hutchins Funeral Home. 

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