Catherine Helen “Catie” Jacquot (1923-2017)

Catherine Helen 'Catie' (O'Connor) Jacquot

Catherine Helen “Catie” Jacquot, a long-time teacher known for her sense of humor and willingness to voice her opinion, died Dec. 3 at her daughter’s West Toledo home. She was 94.

She died of metastatic breast cancer, daughter Lynn Jacquot said.

“She had absolutely no problem standing up for what’s important,” Lynn said. “She didn’t countenance bystanders.”

Born on Aug. 16, 1923, in Toledo to Timothy John and Catherine Margaret O’Connor, she attended Good Shepherd School and graduated from Waite High School. She obtained a scholarship to Ohio State University, where she met Willard Jacquot. They married and had two children before divorcing.

She eventually finished her undergraduate degree in education at the University of Toledo, and received a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University. She taught fourth and fifth grade for 27 years, beginning in 1972, at Crossgates School.

Janice Reason, Crossgates’ principal for most of Mrs. Jacquot’s years there, remembered her as a reliable teacher with a particular talent for reaching out to troubled boys.

“She had a way of handling them,” Mrs. Reason said. “They came out like winners.”

Ms. Jacquot was active in the Toledo Federation of Teachers, pushing for set pay schedules and health care for teachers that they lacked when she started her career, her daughter said. She was also for years a building representative, working well with her principal to find common ground for the sake of students.

“We always managed to agree on problems,” Mrs. Reason said.

As a teacher, Ms. Jacquot wanted to instill a habit of engaging with current events. She regularly assigned reading newspaper editorial pages as homework.

“Mom thought kids should be talking about current events,” Lynn Jacquot said.

She encouraged her children to grow up similarly, her daughter said. Lynn and her brother, Curt Jacquot, wanted to walk from their home near Deveaux Elementary to Ottawa Park, doing so with a map and compass and little aid from their mother.

“She gave us some boundaries and support, but we were expected to engage with the world,” the daughter said.

Ms. Jacquot also enjoyed traveling, which she did frequently after retiring, both with groups of friends and alone.

“She would go when the wind struck,” Lynn said.

She was also an avid tennis fan and player who would record matches and rewatch professionals to glean methods for improving her own game, which she honed through her 70s.

“She really loved sports and was very competitive,” Lynn said. “She did not like to lose.”

Ms. Jacquot is survived by her daughter, Lynn Catherine Jacquot; son, Curt Jacquot, and sisters, Patricia Burcin and Bethanne Bateman.

The family will receive guests at Newcomer Funeral Homes-Northwest Chapel, 4150 W. Laskey Rd., on Tuesday from 3 to 8 p.m. Visitation will resume at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday followed at 10:30 a.m. by a funeral in the mortuary.

The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio, WGTE, or the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.

Contact Zack Lemon at zlemon@theblade.com, 419-724-6282, or on Twitter @zack_lemon.