Catherine Atkinson was born in 1852 and died in Sep. 1934 in Mount Forest. Joyce states that following the birth of her sixth child, Addie, Catherine suffered an infection and remained bedridden for the rest of her life. During their school years, the three oldest girls took turns staying home from school for a month to be "Mother's helper" although there was usually a hired girl to look after the baby and the invalid. Their father was still farming at this point, but later he got a job in town at the butcher shop so that the children could go to school in town.

Joyce says that Catherine was not a demanding invalid, but that she spent hours with her bible, she wrote a lot of letters, had visits from friends, and made nighties and pillow cases, embroidered them and made tatted edgings on little girls dresses and petticoats, and dolls clothes and towels.