Catherine Lorraine Gillette

after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Cathy’s struggle with the illness reflected the

best characteristics of her personality— strength, tenacity, humor, and tackling challenges

with the vigor of a mighty warrior.

During her youth, she watched as her parent’s worked hard to make their great American dream come true and sought the same for her own life. At 19 years old, she forged a path

into the corporate world at a revolutionary time when women were claiming their own independence. She started as a “mail girl” at the Mountain Bell headquarters in downtown Denver in the late 1960’s.

This decision would lay the ground work for a phenomenal 35-year career in management for the IT department, maintaining her business acumen and reliability for surviving the company’s evolution to various entities such as US West Communications and Qwest Communications.

Cathy lived her life solely in the pursuit of achieving her dreams while taking care of loved ones. She had a love for fashion which ultimately lead to ownership of Fashion Express, a retail store opened in 1989. Education was important to her, which is reflected in such accomplishments as obtaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Organizational Development, from Regis University, completing various certifications, and the pursuit of 2 master’s degrees. Cathy enjoyed traveling, purchasing the perfect gift for all her nieces and nephews, and loved a good bargain. Her biggest accomplishment however, was finding the love of her life, Bill Gillette and maintaining a happy and loyal marriage for 47 years.

Cathy had a strong faith and attended various local catholic churches often. Even when dementia was wreaking havoc, in her faith held steady throughout, and seemed to have given her much needed inner peace on Sunday mornings. During this difficult time, she battled the disease and fought to maintain some sense of normalcy. It is here that the love of her husband guided her into a peaceful abatement, which eventually lead to full-time, around the clock care.

In addition to being the loving wife to Bill Gillette, she was the daughter to Tony and Toni Solano, and sister to Steve Solano (deceased) (Marie), Tony Solano (Aki), Dave Solano, Lori Swolak, (Peter) and James Solano (Gina).

Memorial mass will be held following at 11am at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 3900 Pierce St, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033. In typical Cathy precision, her exit from this life will match the exact date of her birth, September 4th. Cathy’s cremated remains will be placed at Olinger Crown Hill, Tower of Memories in a private ceremony.