Catherine Suzanne Bank (nee Wagner) was born on July 3, 1920 in Munich, Germany.  She was raised in Luxembourg by her parents Gertrude and Jean Nicolas Wagner and was an only child but had a large extended family and from her accounts, had a happy childhood.

 

            In 1939 the Nazis invaded her country and life became difficult.  Naturally, she and all the citizens of Luxembourg were overjoyed when her country was liberated at the end of WWII and Catherine wanted to do something to give back to the United States.  Since she was fluent in five languages, she became an interpreter for the U.S. Air Force and went to Wiesbaden, Germany to work in the court system where Nazi war criminals were tried.  One day at the base pool, a soldier whose job at the time was hunting down Nazi war criminals, noticed her.  He wanted to impress her so he did a handstand out of the pool and introduced himself.  His name was Aaron Bank. They began dating and on August 4, 1948, they were married and honeymooned on the French Riviera.  Soon they were off to the United States and Catherine became a U.S. citizen.  Aaron went off to fight in the Korean Conflict and Catherine gave birth to their first child, Linda, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.  Aaron became the First Commander of Special Forces in 1952.  Special Forces moved to Bavaria for training and the family went along.  In 1954, Catherine had their second child, Alexandra, ("Sandy") in Munich, Germany.  When Aaron was assigned to the Pentagon, the family moved back to the Washington D.C. area. In 1958, Colonel Aaron Bank retired.

 

            The family moved that year to San Clemente, California.  After the excitement of living in different areas on two continents and having close ties to the Army and Special Forces families, Catherine was a bit lost at first in what then was a tiny hamlet at the end of Orange County.  She and Aaron became involved in the PTA at their daughters’ school and when they discovered that their was no library at the school, they created one, collecting used books from other parents and from used book stores in Santa Ana and Orange.  This was just one of their many projects in PTA.  She also began teaching Sunday School at the San Clemente Presbyterian Church.  She taught her daughters to sew, cook and bake, did homework with them and took them to all of their activities.  French and German Clubs were often held at the Bank household when her daughters were in high school.  At one point, Catherine was invited several times to translate letters and documents for President Nixon at the Western White House and one day the President personally followed her out to the parking lot to thank her for her service.  Aaron and Catherine’s first and only grandchild, Michelle, was born in 1986 and Catherine thoroughly enjoyed being a grandma. Chapter XII, of the Special Forces Association,  was formed close to them, both Aaron and Catherine were overjoyed to reconnect with old friends and to meet new ones and became very involved in the activities of this group!  Catherine was very touched when the Special Forces Association, Chapter 12, named itself after her!!! Catherine also often accompanied Aaron on many of his speaking engagements here in the U.S. and abroad.

 

            Aaron and Catherine moved into an assisted living facility in 2000.  Aaron passed away in 2004 and Catherine continued to live at the Fountains at Sea Bluffs Assisted Living in Dana Point where she served as the President of her council for several years.  Her first great grandson, K.J., was born in 2007 and a second great grandson, Wyatt, in 2015.  She continues to reside at the Fountains in the Memory Unit and enjoys spending time with her family.