‘The prolife community has lost an angel’
Catherine “Marie” Kuhn, a steadfast defender of the unborn who was not afraid to speak truth to apathy and to walk the talk of the prolife cause, died July 17 on Oahu from complications following surgery. She was 82.
For the past 35 years, the mother of six was active in Hawaii organizations on the forefront of the battle against abortion. She started an abstinence-based sex education program in schools that was later adopted by Catholic Charities Hawaii.
Her funeral service is scheduled for Aug. 16 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Waikane. Visitation begins at 9:30 a.m. followed by Mass at 11 a.m. and lunch in the church hall at 12:30 p.m. Inurnment will be private. In lieu of flowers, suggested donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or Hawaii Family Forum.
“She was one of the most passionate women that I have ever had the privilege to work with” in the field of prolife advocacy, said Eva Andrade, executive director of Hawaii Family Forum and communications director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference.
But she “always had a very loving approach,” Andrade said, “a soft voice” and a personal touch.
“The prolife community has lost an angel,” Andrade said.
Kuhn was born in Philadelphia on Nov. 7, 1931, to Arthur and Kathryn Ralston. At age 22 she moved to Southern California where for the next 25 years, according to her daughter Rena Oberacker, “she worked in the service industry and raised her six children.”
Kuhn saw the preciousness of life through the lens of her own personal tragedies. She lost her oldest son to suicide in 1977, seven years after an accident left him paraplegic. A year later her youngest son was murdered.
She moved to Hawaii in 1979 and became a prolife activist.
Kuhn volunteered at Hawaii Right to Life holding board positions and faithfully attended its annual March for Life at the State Capitol. For years she counseled pregnant women at the Pearson Foundation’s Pregnancy Problem Centers.
Oberacker described her mother as “an amazingly strong woman and role model who touched many lives.”
“Mom had a strong Catholic faith and was a beacon for truth which never waivered. Her charity work was a full-time job for 35 years,” she said. “She was called to be an advocate and voice for those who couldn’t defend themselves.”
In 1999, Kuhn decided to create a program to teach teens the benefits of delaying sex until marriage when she learned that the federal government had set aside $50 million a year for states to initiate such programs.
She was motivated by the “heartbreaking” situations she encountered counseling girls at the Pregnancy Problem Centers.
“I know that she would take each girl very personally,” Andrade said.
According to the Pearson Foundation description, the lessons would “empower teens to become healthy decision makers by providing them knowledge about the benefits of abstinence, a viable option available to them, as they make decisions about the value of their sexuality.”
Kuhn and others trained volunteers who brought the program into private and public schools. Catholic Charities Hawaii eventually took over the abstinence education program calling it “Try Wait.”
She was instrumental in the construction of a memorial for unborn children at her parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Waikane.
Kuhn was also a member of The National Republican Committee, the A.B.W.A., the Catholic Women’s Guild and the Honolulu Polo Club and also volunteered at a number of local community theaters.
“We admired her, loved her beyond words and are so grateful to have shared her journey in this world.” Oberacker said.
Oberacker said her mother gave her a final one-word instruction two days before she died.
“She was having trouble breathing and speaking so we all held hands and prayed silently,” she said. “We then added personal intentions out loud.”
“Mom squeezed my hand, looked at me and my sister and said, ‘Forgive.’ It resonated to my core. It was a message we all need to hear.”
Kuhn is survived by her brother Joseph Ralston, her sister Regina “Jean” Miller, daughters Catherine Kuhn Asby, Rena Oberacker and Marie Elise Kuhn, son Stephen Allen Kuhn, and two grandchildren.
