Catherine (“Cate” or “Cathy”) Cooke Lux of Philadelphia, Penn., died peacefully on Monday morning, March 22. Raised by a World War II Marine mother, she was a true fighter and lived long enough with glioblastoma for doctors to label her an “outlier.”

Born October 11, 1951, in Orange, N.J., Cate was the beloved wife of the late Paul Stephen Lux. She is survived by her three children, Annie Radecki (Ryan), Sarah McCabe (Tom), and Timothy Lux (Molly); five grandchildren, Thomas and Henry McCabe, Alex and Lydia Radecki, and Marsden Lux; and two siblings, Allison Cooke Brown and Edward Strong Cooke.

She attended Indian Mountain School and the Kent School, before graduating from Skidmore College in 1974 with a degree in elementary education and receiving a master’s degree in early childhood education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1978.

Educating her own children and her students was her passion. She taught at the Children’s School in Colorado Spring, Colo., Moses Brown School in Providence, R.I., and St Margaret’s-McTernan School (now Chase Collegiate) in Waterbury. She then enjoyed a 20-year career teaching fifth grade at Oxford Center School in Oxford before retiring in 2014.

Her family lived in Sandy Hook for 36 years, where Cate immersed herself in community service. She was a founding VP for Youth Services, writing the bylaws, building the first Board of Directors, and organizing the first Fun Run fundraiser. She served as the president of the Sandy Hook Elementary PTA, led a Girl Scout troop, raised money for the Fun Space Playground, and worked with Save Our Schools to educate voters about the school budgeting process. She also sat on the Board of Directors of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library.

Outside Newtown, she worked with the Junior League of Greater Waterbury to develop an art education partnership between the Mattatuck Museum and area schools.

After her retirement, she joined her children and grandchildren in Philadelphia and started the urban phase of her life, living in a high-rise apartment and enjoying Philly’s restaurants, museums, and clubs. Unable to stop being an educator, she co-led an afternoon STEAM program and started several book clubs.

Cate was known for welcoming everyone as a part of her family. Her children’s swimming and rowing teammates will especially miss her molasses cookies, “bird’s lunch cookies,” zucchini bread, and lasagna. She brought joy to and found humor in every occasion and will be missed by the many friends she collected over the years.

A memorial service will be held in June in Connecticut.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Philabundance, a Delaware Valley nonprofit committed to alleviating hunger and food insecurity (philabundance.org).