Born: October 25, 1876
Died: August 29, 1959
Married: Ellsworth Petty
Children: William Petty, Clarence Petty, Archibald Petty
Catherine Van Druska Petty was the wife of Ellsworth Petty and the mother of three forest rangers.
She grew up in New York City, moving to the Adirondacks about 1896. She worked at Bartlett's until her marriage to Ellsworth in 1901. By 1905, she had two sons. Remarkably, she also had a view-camera, with which she documented the life of her family. And although the family was squatting on state land, Catherine was determined that her sons would be educated.
Source: Angus, Christopher, The Extraordinary Adirondack Journey of Clarence Petty, Syracuse University Press, 2002
Tupper Lake Free Press and Tupper Lake Herald, September 3, 1959
Mrs. Catherine Petty Dies at 82 at Home In Coreys Saturday
Mrs. Catherine W. Petty, 82, died Saturday at her home at Coreys.
Her daughter-in-law, Mrs. William Petty of Saranac Inn, drove to her home Saturday morning after she had been unable to reach her by telephone, apparently as a result of line trouble following Friday night's severe electrical storm. She found Mrs. Petty seated in a chair in the living room, dead. She resided alone. Death was attributed to a coronary attack.
Services were held at 1 p.m. Monday at the Richer Funeral Home with Rev. Alvin Gurley, formerly of Saranac Lake, officiating. Interment was in the family plot in Lakeview Cemetery here. Pall bearers were Sam Parmelee, Ivan Cutting, Josh Otis, Roy Foote, Harold Hurley and Harold Rice.
She was born Catherine Van Druska in New York city Oct. 25, 1876, and was married at Saranac Lake in 1901 to W. Ellsworth Petty. They had made their home at Coreys since 1911. Mr. Petty, one of the last old-time Adirondack guides, was employed for 60 years as caretaker at Deer Island Camp on nearby Upper Saranac Lake, for the Alfred White and Edmund Lyon families. At 93, he was still active on that job when, on May 9, 1956, he set out to row across the lake to the Rustic Lodge landing at Indian Carry. Death overtook him on that trip, his body being found late that night in his boat, which drifted ashore.
Mrs. Petty is survived by three sons, William E. Petty Jr. of Saranac Lake, district forester; Archibald C. Petty of Oxford, and Clarence A. Petty of Parishville; also 8 grandchildren.
