Catherine Agresto

Obituary for Catherine Agresto

Catherine Agresto passed away peacefully on November 24, 2023 with her two daughters and her husband holding her hands.

Cathy was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1946 to Joseph and Mary E. Murphy. She attended Bayview Academy, and then Boston College, where she majored in elementary education. She subsequently graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with a master’s degree in Library and Information Science.

She married John Agresto in 1968. Prior to living in Santa Fe, they lived in Boston, Ithaca, Toronto, Chapel Hill, and Washington DC. Cathy loved traveling, especially back to New England, to the coast of North Carolina, to Italy, and to Ireland.

In Santa Fe she juggled working at the National Laboratory in Los Alamos, being the president’s wife at St. John’s College, and raising two daughters. She excelled in everything she touched — her career, making every house into a home, winning blue ribbons for her fabulous pies every year at the New Mexico State Fair, and being a happy, loving, and supportive, wife for over 55 years.

She died from an aggressive lymphoma made even worse by RSV.

She is survived by her husband John, their daughters Molly Agresto Archuleta (a Registered Nurse here in Santa Fe) and Meghan Agresto (a lighthouse keeper and the founder of the first school on the Northern Outer Banks since 1958), four grandchildren, and her younger sister Mary Patricia Becker. She was preceded in death by her father, her mother, her younger brother Joseph (“Joby”) Murphy, and grandson Marshall. 

Since Cathy needed many blood transfusions in her last few days, in lieu of flowers you could consider donating blood in her memory. Alternately, you might consider a small donation to the Water’s Edge Village School on the Outer Banks, a cause Cathy supported (www.watersedgevillageschool.com).

Cathy was so loved, so loving, and she will be so very missed.

A requiem mass will be held on Monday, December 4th at 10am at the Cristo Rey Church in Santa Fe. Reception to follow.