Catherine Lynn Creech

Catherine Lynn Creech was born on May 30, 1962 in Richmond, Kentucky. She died suddenly and unexpectedly in Winchester, Virginia on May 6, 2020. Cathy was the first-born daughter of Judith and Robert Creech. She grew up with her younger sisters, Kelly and Carey Creech, in Lexington, KY. Cathy was the rock of her family and idolized by her sisters. The bond with her family was unbreakable and we will miss her infectious laugh and unwavering support. After graduating from Bryan Station High School in 1980, where she is a member of the Hall of Fame, she attended Transylvania University, graduating summa cum laude in 1984 with a degree in English Literature. In college, she was the Student Government Association President, and member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority, among many other activities and academic awards, including Omicron Delta Kappa National Leader of the Year in 1984. Cathy received her J.D. from the Harvard Law School in 1987, where she was the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Women’s Law Review. In 1987, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she was an Associate of Miller & Chevalier Chtd. until 1991. She was Attorney Advisor at the United States Department of the Treasury from 1991 to 1993. She then returned as a Member to Miller & Chevalier until 2002. From 2002 to 2008 she was a partner at Davis & Harman LLP. In April of 2008 she moved to Ernst & Young LLP as a principal/partner in the firm’s National Tax Department. At EY, she spoke frequently at tax conferences and authored many articles about tax compliance and employee benefit and compensation arrangements. She was a member of the District of Columbia and Kentucky bar associations, as well as a former chairperson of the District of Columbia Bar Association’s employee benefits committee. She served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School LL.M program, and she was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.

Cathy was a devoted mother and wife, aunt, sister, daughter, and friend. She was an enthusiastic Washington Nationals Baseball fan, an avid gardener and designer, writer and reader, and a lover of French countryside travel. Her loving friends remember their evenings at their book group meetings with much laughter, a lot of wine, and some discussion of the month’s book. Her EY colleagues remember her unique insight, judgement, and caring and passionate mentorship. She spent the past few months at her second home in West Virginia, a haven that she created for her family and friends. To her husband and children, and all those who knew her, she is a force of love, wisdom, inspiration, and kindness.

Cathy is survived by her children, Martha Blair and Robert Byron Reynolds; her husband, Donald Britt Reynolds, her mother, Judith Creech; her sister, Kelly Creech Shikoh (Alan Shikoh); her sister, Carey Creech Galloway (Brad Galloway); her nephews K. Alan Shikoh, Drew Shikoh, and Thomas Shikoh; her nieces and nephew, Chloe Galloway, Belle Galloway, and Cooper Galloway; her mother-in-law, Jeanette Reynolds, and special family friend, Yvonne Hackworth; as well as many loving cousins, aunts, uncles, and beloved friends. Cathy is preceded in death by her father, Robert Creech, who died in November of 2017.

A funeral service will be held virtually on Sunday, May 17, 2020, 1:30 pm at Gawler’s Funeral Home in Washington, D.C.

The link for the service is: https://svccorp.webex.com/svccorp/j.php?MTID=m4fa51cf50446f4dea9380e576c085281

If you feel called, memorial contributions can be made in her name to the Potomac Conservancy.