Catherine Zigli

Catherine “Kathie” Cecilia Zigli, age 76, of Ellison Run, Charleston, South Carolina, formerly of Boone, passed away Wednesday, March 20, 2019. Kathie was born April 20, 1942 in New York, New York, daughter of the late John Joseph Slevin and Catherine Marie Slevin.

Kathie was raised on Long Island, New York, and attended college at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh. It was here that she earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from the Department of Nursing in 1964. It was during her time there that she met her future husband, Ronald Zigli, at a military ball and were married on August 22, 1964 at the Plattsburg Air Force Base.

After graduating, Kathie began a lifelong career in nursing with particular focus in general public service. She started her career as a staff nurse at Daytona Beach General Hospital in Florida where she served for 2 years before moving with her family to Atlanta, GA. Here Kathie served for seven years as a Public Health Nurse within the DeKalb County Health Department and was principally responsible for maternal and child health as well as family planning and school health programs.

In 1974 Kathie followed an opportunity and took a job with the Appalachian District Health Department in Boone, NC. What began as a typical public health nurse position quickly turned into a Public Health Nursing Consultant position for the Maternal and Child Health Program in western NC. During her tenure, Kathie served as consultant for 12 counties, primarily for local county health departments and developmental evaluation centers. Kathie was deeply involved in developing programs for Maternal/Child Health, Perinatal, High Priority Infant Identification and Tracking, SIDS, School Health, and various other areas of focus. Kathie also served on various committees (Watauga County Project on Aging, Home Health Care Program, etc) and served as president for the Western NC Public Health Association from 1979-1980 while maintaining active involvement with WAMY Headstart Community Action Program and other regional health organizations.

As a result of her tremendous impact on the community and intense dedication, in September of 1985, Kathie was bestowed the honor of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by then Governor of North Carolina, James G Martin. This honor is among the most prestigious awards conferred by the Governor of North Carolina. It is awarded to persons for exemplary service to the State of North Carolina and their communities that is above and beyond the call of duty and which have made a significant impact and strengthened North Carolina.

In 1989, Kathie was able to pursue yet another ground-breaking opportunity that brought her to Charleston, SC, where she closed out her decades-long career in public health service. Kathie became part of an organization working to create an early intervention program for infants and toddlers with disabilities. It was here that Kathie was able to do some of the most challenging, yet rewarding, work of her career as she was tasked with helping to lay the ground work for, establish, and implement a community-based interagency coordinated program of early intervention services through public and private providers. Out of all this hard work, came BabyNet, South Carolina’s first program specifically designed to ensure equal accessibility of all early preventative services to any family in need, particularly those already at high risk for developmental disabilities. Kathie served as Assistant Project Administrator and Regional Coordinator for BabyNet until her retirement in 2002.

Kathie Zigli is preceded in death by her late husband, Dr. Ronald M Zigli. Kathie is survived by her brother Paul Slevin of Colorado; daughter Ann Braxton and husband Danny of Farmville, NC; daughter Andrea Rook of Charleston, SC; and grandchildren Robert Michael Rook, Brittany Ann Rook, Kevin Michael Rook, and Anthony John Rook; and great grandchildren Kyle Ashley, Kevin Rook Jr, and Annalyn Rook.

A mass of Christian burial will be held by Father Thomas Kingsley at the Church of the Nativity on Folly Rd in Charleston, SC on Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at 11am. Burial services will be conducted on Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 11 am at Woodlawn Cemetery in Blowing Rock, NC.