Richard Leander Cattau

May 25, 1940 ~ December 05, 2020

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Richard (“Dick”) Leander Cattau, 80, of Port St Lucie, Florida died Saturday, December 5, 2020, after a brief illness at Life Care Center of Port St Lucie surrounded by his loving daughter Jill and son John.

Richard graduated from Valparaiso University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962. Upon graduation, Richard entered the U.S. Navy, ultimately serving as a Lieutenant on the Destroyer USS Perry (DD-844).

At the conclusion of his service in the U.S. Navy in 1967, Richard joined Bausch & Lomb in Rochester, NY as Director of Distribution and Materials Management. He served as President of Sarah Coventry, Inc. in 1978 and presided over its reorganization and sale in 1984. For the remainder of his career, Richard advised financially distressed businesses as a turnaround and management consultant.

Father of Jill (Marty) Birmingham and John (Marie) Cattau; grandfather of Annie and Tommy Birmingham, Serena, Eliza and Benjamin Cattau; brother of Daniel Cattau and Ann Cattau; uncle of Olivia and Sam Cattau. Richard is preceded in death by his father Holger G. Cattau and mother Olive A. Cattau.

Memorials may be made to the American Lung Association (www.lung.org).

Condolences may be shared online at www.millenniumcremationservice.com

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Condolence

Gene Kanning

December 8, 2020, 11:56 pm

Dear Cattaus……My deepest sympathy to you and your families…Dick was the first person I met at Valpo in 1957 as he was my roommate in Lemke Hall our freshman year. We also pledged Phi Delta Theta together…Dick (Cat) was always a very amiable roommate and fraternity brother who was liked by all.

May God give you comfort as this time of mourning. We all know that Dick has attained his eternal reward in heaven and is now with his Lord and Savior.

I appreciate you contacting me and I will pass this sad information on to others.

Gene Kanning

December 9, 2020, 12:13 am

Dear Cattaus.

My deepest sympathy to you and your families..Dick was my roommate freshman year at Valpo and also a fraternity
The memories are too many to list..He was a very likable and amiable fraternity brother to all. May God comfort you at this time of mourning,
We know that Dick has attained his eternal reward and is now with his Lord and Savior in heaven

We mourn with you.

Gene Kanning

Karen Pajak

December 9, 2020, 12:15 am

I am sorry for the loss of my wonderful friend and mentor. He was so very principled and hard working, with a constant application of values both in business and life. Sincere condolences to Jill and John, and all of his family.

Bill (Woody) Seldon

December 9, 2020, 10:55 pm

Dear Jill, John, Ann and Dan,

I am so sad to hear of Dick’s passing. He will surely be missed by all by who knew him. My sincere condolences to you and all Cattau family members.

Dick was a fellow member of Phi Delta Theta and roommate at Valpo, and a classmate at the US Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI. We spent many happy times together at Valpo and in the Navy.

He was fortunate to be born in a strong Christian family and live a life of Christian values. God will give you comfort as you mourn his loss.

David Gitch

December 10, 2020, 9:12 pm

Jill and John and the Cattau Family: I was saddened to learn of Richard’s death. Thank you for letting Bill Seldon and Gene Kanning know; they in turn have shared the news with a number of his Valpo associates, of which I am proud and thankful to have been one. As others have noted, I, too was a Phi Delta Theta “brother” and shared the fraternity house with him. There are many good times we had during those college years. “CAT” was generous with me in that I “borrowed” his car not infrequently…he had, I didn’t. But more then that, Richard was there to give a hand, a bit of advice, and support when needed. We shared many event outings together as well. Our contact over the many years was through Christmas greetings…and the occasional sharing of info when some of the fraternity guys got together. May he now rest in peace and share the joys of heaven.
Dave Gitch

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