Karen S. Catroppa

August 3, 1957 - September 14, 2016

ROTTERDAM – Karen S. Catroppa, 59, entered lovingly into the arms of her Lord on Wednesday, September 14, 2016. Karen was born in Schenectady on August 3, 1957. She graduated from Colonie Central High School and began her career with the Capital Region OTB; NYS Legislature; Cornell Cooperative Extension; and Northeastern Fine Jewelry. Karen was a woman of great stamina, strength, faith and love: a legacy she leaves to all who knew her. She was predeceased by her husband Mark Catroppa, whom she married on October 10, 1989, who passed on May 4, 2012; her parents, Mary and Ernie Selke and George Parrish; her twin sister, Sharen Lou Parrish; her siblings, Jeffrey Parrish, Mary Byrnes and Hazel Favata. Karen is survived by her son, Michael (Pam) Wright, her daughter, Jennifer (Philip) Westerfield; her loved and cherished granddaughter, Shyanne Grace Westerfield; her siblings, Jacquelyn (Stephen) Lawlor, Diane (James) Garavelli-Miller, Ernie (Bonnie) Selke; and step-sister, Marlene (Angelo) Papa; and many loving nieces and nephews. Services will be held on Monday at 8:30am from the Rossi & Ditoro Funeral Home, 501 Union Street and then to St. Luke's Church, State Street, where a Mass will be celebrated by her cousin Fr. Thomas Holmes at 9:30 am. Interment will follow in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Kings Road. Relatives and friends are invited and may call at the Rossi & Ditoro Funeral Home on Sunday from 2 to 5 pm. Memorial contributions may be made in Karen's memory to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America at CCFA.org