Kitty Katharina Marcus was born June 11, 1917 in Hungary, in a small town in the Ukraine called Munkacs.

She later moved to Vienna, Austria with her parents and lived there until she set sail for Trinidad arriving here on November 3, 1938. Kitty, whose life in Trinidad took her through many doors: she taught Chemistry, did analysis of cane juice sugar and molasses, was a Benedictine Oblate and many more.

When Kitty arrived in Trinidad, the Coconut Growers’ Association (CGA) factory was just one year old and the chief chemist was an Austrian, Rudolf Konwalina. She can recall the calculations, the mixture and the process for the making of table margarine and French cooking butter.

Kitty Katharina Marcus displays a newspaper clipping on CGA while she sits next to her fancy birthday cake.

As we celebrated her 90th birthday we were pleased to learn that Errol Matthews is putting together her memoirs.

He presented her with a draft of same and we can look forward for the launching of The Life of Kitty Marcus From Vienna, Austria to T&T.

Present to celebrate with Kitty at the St Peter’s Home, which she calls home, was the CEO of CGA, Mr Agostini who presented her with a hamper of goodies and a large birthday cake.

We heard from the Benedictines - Kitty’s student Abbot John Pereira; from the Seminary – past student, Rector Msgr Michael de Verteuil; Oliver Boothman, a past co-worker at CGA who presented Kitty with a clipping from the Express newspaper re: “Men who made the coconut industry”; the Carmelite Sisters, Mr M D’Ornellas and his mother, Mr & Mrs Taylor, Anthony and Janet Julien, Julie Julien, Mr & Mrs Ramon Fortuné, Mr & Mrs Errol Matthews and their son Gary, Kenneth Kong Tin and his mother, George Assam, Pearl George and Yvette Woodruffe (SVP), Mr & Mrs O. Boothman, May Cherrie and her brother, Walton Edinborough, Msgr Easu Joseph, Frs Stephen Geofrey and Gabriel Julien, Brenda, Dianne and Lawrence Castillo, Mervyn  Richard and many, many others. Special thanks to Michael Boothman for the background music.

Thanks to all those who came to celebrate with Kitty. The food was good, the atmosphere was better. But most of all was the presence of God as we all celebrated a sister from afar. From Munkacs, Hungary by birth, through Vienna, Austria by train, to Trinidad and Tobago by boat.