Catherine Luyckx Neal
If you’re fortunate in this life, you’ll come across someone who brightens your world and makes you live a little bit better, just for having know them.
Or in this case, blessed by her presence.
Catherine (Georgette Henriette) Luyckx Neal, age 43, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was certainly one of those rare persons.
Born February 21, 1975 in Brussels, Belgium, she grew up in a three story row house overlooking King Boudewijn Park with its meadows, ponds and swans in Jette, a municipality in the Brussels-Capitol Region of Belgium.
Catherine was that granddaughter, daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend, who was true in expressing lovingkindness by the manner in which she treated folks.
Especially evident with the humbleness she displayed in serving others.
Her nickname says it all, “Momma Cat.”
Catherine and her husband, Hicks, brought seven children into this world.
Six Neal’s within six years: Manon Jhane (16), Audrey Bogaert (13), Ellen Aurelie (13), Ava Estele (13), James (Jimmy) Hicks, IV (10) and John Paul (10).
More than two years ago as a surrogate, Catherine carried one of hers and her husband’s embryos for a co-worker in MTSU’s Department of Theatre and Dance.
Henry Jackson (Neal) Reed came onto the scene in July 2016, who was adopted by a couple in Murfreesboro.
When she left this life near midafternoon, Sunday, October 7, 2018, her lifespan of 43 years splits the median term for Western women.
But she packed so much into that contracted time.
Pope John Paul II visited her Sacred Heart Academy, when she was in 4th Grade; can you imagine that as a 9 year old in grade school?
Catherine traveled to more than one dozen countries before coming to the U.S.
She even made an appearance at the Wailing Wall in Israel with hair covered and paper prayer slip in hand.
As a child she dreamed of going to the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and possessed a scale model in her bedroom that would light up at night.
She also had ancestry to Argentina but never got to make the trip to Buenos Aires and dance the salon-style tango.
Even at the spirited age of 23, when she came to live here and got married, Catherine was an old soul.
She was drawn to the big band music and swing dance beats that her maternal grandparents loved from the 1930s and the post-war era.
They, Henri Bogaert and Jeanne Starck, survived roughly four-and-one-half years of German occupation in World War II and heavily influenced a Belgian lass, who ‘had itchy feet to travel’ as she described.
One of her favorite artists was Satchmo (Loius Armstrong).
She could sing the Edith Piaf classic “Le Vie En Rose” in absolute pitch (literally “Life in Pink” [i.e., through “rose-coloured glasses,” from an optimistic point of view]), noted in the Second World War film Saving Private Ryan.
Catherine dearly loved the Mid-South and her adopted hometown, Murfreesboro.
The genteel mannerisms and easy peasy ways of what used to be small town life, here, was what she desired.
Even though she hailed from the bustling capitol of the European Union, she learned to embrace the art of moseying and to properly prepare for fixin’ to go somewhere for a short spell.
What a treasure to which this community has been exposed with Catherine in its midst.
Really, she was pure magic.
Audrey Hepburn-esque to be sure, who was also Belgian born.
Gentle but determined.
Armed with a brilliant ability to figure things out, not daunted by the prospect of failure.
A true empathetic listener, inspirational gift to this world, who didn’t seek possessions but focused on the many hues life presented.
Cat’s beauty as a woman grew with the passing of years but, tragically, we never got to see her grow old.
Catherine gave every ounce of who she was to those who were in need.
She embraced the love of God, moments of delight, the joy of small pleasures… savoring the glow in her children’s faces, always teaching, always loving on them.
Perpetually at home with a little one in each arm.
Weeks ago in September, she shared a vision of herself in Heaven amid babies, many, holding them – Momma Cat.
Although Catherine lived in the U.S. for 20 years, she remained a foreign national of the Kingdom of Belgium.
Surviving family in Bruxelles, Belguique include: her married parents, Claudine Bogaert (mother) and Paul Luyckx (father), Patricia Luyckx (sister), Jonathan Smith (nephew), Julie Smith (niece) and Katell Decours (niece), who bears Catherine’s name from Katell’s father’s Brittany, France region, influenced by Scottish Gaelic language, and her great aunt Annette Starck.
Donations in Catherine Neal’s name may be made to the MTSU Theatre and Dance Enrichment Fund, which supports and enhances the experience of students in the performing arts.
