Cathy Haga Humphrey

Cathy Sue Haga Humphrey was born February 28, 1950 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, to Paul and Waneta Haga.  She entered her heavenly home on March 21, 2021. She was reunited with her son Jeremy and daughter Amber, as well as her parents and brother Chris and other family that had gone on before her.  Cathy was the second-born of six children.  She graduated from Stillwater High School in May of 1968.  During her high school years, she worked at Tiger Drugstore in Stillwater. She married the love of her life John Rickstrew ‘Rick’ Humphrey in December 1968, and they just celebrated 52 years of marriage together.  During their first years of marriage, Cathy was busy raising two active toddlers and was involved in supporting her husband through the Oklahoma State University Engineerettes as he earned his degree at Oklahoma State University. Rick and Cathy moved to Sulphur, Louisiana in 1973 where they have made their home and reared their three children since then. She was the secretary at Central Baptist Church in Sulphur when her children began attending school and resigned from there as Dawn and Jeremy began High School. 

As a child she learned to play the piano and that helped foster a love for music that she passed along to her children and grandchildren.  Her daughters were in choir and orchestra and her grandson was in the school band. She continued her love for music over the years by participating on many levels. In the early 1980’s, she and Rick were members of a Southern Gospel quartet, ‘The Praise Singers’.  They travelled hundreds of miles and sang in many small churches in south central Louisiana.  She sang solos at church as well as in the church choir and sang in the Sulphur Community Christmas Choir with her two daughters.

She was her children and grandchildren’s greatest cheerleader.  She was at all of their events and games.  She could carry on a full conversation during the entire game, but she would still be able to tell you the exact score and what inning and how many outs there were at any time that you asked. She went to numerous ball games and choir, orchestra, and band concerts over the years. She enjoyed cheering on her college teams as well – McNeese Cowboys (where her daughters graduated), Oklahoma State University Cowboys (her and Rick’s alma mater and hometown college), and West Virginia University Mountaineers (her parents’ home state team).  You could find her on Saturday nights cheering on the blue and gold in Cowboy Stadium.  She would watch and cheer for her OSU Cowboys and Mountaineers any chance she got and would text her family back home during the games. One game she really enjoyed was when the McNeese State Cowboys and OSU Cowboys played each other in football.  She wore the special family t-shirts designed by her daughters for the game – ‘No matter the distance, once a Cowboy, always a Cowboy!’ She was proud to sit in the stands and cheer for the Cowboys, and her team won!

Cathy came to know her Lord and Savior at a very young age and her faith was evident in her everyday life.  She was a prayer warrior, mentor, Sunday School teacher, member of the church choir, and leader of the Speeders (55 and over) group at Sales Street Baptist Church.  She was tested and tried over the last five years through the loss of her two children, Jeremy and Amber.  She remained a pillar of strength and grace and was an example of faith as she walked through the trials of grief after losing her children.

She was a member of the church bowling league at Trinity Baptist in Lake Charles where she made lifelong friends, many of whom she was still very close to.  She enjoyed the fellowship and ‘competition’ and bowling with her daughter Dawn by her side.  She never made a claim of being a great bowler but was consistent and received a pin for a 500 series of games.

Cathy enjoyed singing, sewing, doing puzzles with her Grandson Ryan, attending Grandson Johnathan’s sporting events, crossword puzzles, sudoku, scrabble, traveling and Gospel Music.  She was an excellent cook and enjoyed cooking for her grandsons.  She enjoyed her oysters and oyster soup, which she passed along to her grandson Ryan who would often request her soup and then eat all of the broth and leave the oysters for her. You could find her at night with her Sudoku book in hand completing the puzzles and keeping her mind sharp or sitting at her dining room table helping Ryan put together puzzles. She enjoyed traveling with her husband and family. She and Rick travelled to many places together including Hawaii, Washington DC, Miami, Savannah, Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, New York City, Charleston, NC and many more.  They enjoyed family trips to Branson, Yellowstone National Park, Mesa Verde, Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park, Roswell, New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns, The Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Disneyworld, and Washington DC. There were many adventures that were had in the motorhome. 

Her big smile, kindness for all, and warm and caring heart will be missed by all who knew and loved her.  To know her was to love her and you knew where her hope and foundation lay – in the hope and love of her father, Jesus Christ.

Funeral Services will be at 11:00 AM on Saturday March 26, 2021 at Sale Street Baptist Church with the Rev. Pat Deshotel officiating. Visitation will be on Friday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Sale Street Baptist Church and will continue at the Church on Saturday from 10:00 AM until the hour of service. Graveside committal services will be at Mimosa Pines South in Carlyss at 2:00 PM Saturday. The family respectfully requests that COVID 19 precautions be observed.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Nicholas Center for Autism in Lake Charles or Gideons International.

Pallbearers will be Brian Beverly, Bryan Myers, Leo Blackmer, Ken Gardner, Bob Green, and Clark Yelverton.  Honorary Pallbearer will be Kent Shepherd.