Catherine Ann DeGiorgio, Sioux Falls, SD, and formerly of New York and New Jersey, passed away peacefully on March 23, 2026, with family by her side. She was 79.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 am on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church, 1800 S. Katie Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Catherine Ann Elvira DeGiorgio

January 14, 1947 - Yonkers, New York - March 23, 2026 – Sioux Falls, SD

Missing you today and always in every day forward. She is now on her journey home to be with God, our parents and our eldest sister Elvira. Catherine was the middle child, the serious one. Elvira was 11 yrs older and Catherine almost 4 yrs older than me.  Dad built an extra bathroom with all the girls in the house, and he still had to make a reservation for entry.  We could only be "flower girls" at Elvira's wedding due to the age spread.

She wasn't perfect, had flaws like the rest of us; stubborn, very particular about what she liked and did not like. Demanding at times, but a softy in heart. Maybe she was fighting for identity.  Make sure you cut her toast into triangles and butter end to end. Make sure you give her a teaspoon and not a big soup spoon. She had a special glass that she used and all food had to be hot, none this tepid stuff like me. She was my big "4' 11" sister who needed special care and I was chosen to head up that task. Just wish God would have clued me in sooner. So, for the past 30 years, I was her charge.

I gave her everything I could to make up for what she missed sharing my home in New Jersey once our parents died, then, relocating to South Dakota in 2001 to be with Elvira and her family. She LOVED my weenie dog Vienna Rose and we mourned her passing together; so, I got two more; Gema Rose and Roma Rose and it was the best of times. After 13 yrs, she handled their passing better than expected and knew how much of a loss they were for me. I must have been doing something right as she did not crumble.

She drove me crazy most of the time, was demanding and stubborn like a bulldog, but childlike in many ways.  She was the math Wiz balancing her checkbook to the penny (wish I could do that).  A voracious reader of mostly real people but loved a good romance novel and magazines. She was a great resource for me; a walking encyclopedia of movies and television; ask her any question, she knew it all in great detail. Their life stories, birthdays and the like.  She also prayed daily using her many prayer books, making little notes of her thoughts and prayers tucked between pages.

She was physically strong until the past few years.  She once could give the best neck massages to all but me as her hand strength was so powerful.  She was an avid crocheter and did craft shows for many years with our Mom in New Jersey and both made countless little treasures to sell and share with family.

Her first love Brian Hyland a 16-year-old singer from the 1960s who's 1st hit was about a "yellow polka dot bikini" then she advanced to Richard Chamberlain aka Dr. Kildare, TV Star. Then Elvis Presley was her idle and she was devastated when he was gone. She met all of them in person, standing in the rain 4 hrs. for tickets so we could see an Elvis concert.  Then along came her one true love, Tom Selleck, who remained her main squeeze, if only in her dreams. Picture them together, as tiny as she was.

She was loyal to a fault, loving, tough and cantankerous, but so, so very generous and wanted to be like everyone else. I'm glad she stayed herself even though it was hard for her to know she wasn't going to have the life she dreamed of. I tried to make up for that, the best I could.

It was my honor to have cared for her all these years and to hold her secrets close so others could only see her inner beauty.  Rest well, you are at peace and will always be my "forever sister"......Love, Jessie Rose.

Grateful for having shared her life are her sister, Jessie DeGiorgio; nephews, Jim (Bonnie) Severson, Keith (Becky) Severson, and Christopher (Donna) Severson; and many great-nephews, nieces, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rose and Jess DeGiorgio, and her sister, Elvira and brother-in-law Keith Severson.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Tunnel to Towers Foundation "T2T" (helping wounded Veterans, Fireman & Police and their families) or, American Cancer Society or Dakota Dachshund Rescue of Sioux Falls.  (She so loved my dogs and they were wonderful therapy for her and came from this wonderful organization.)