Catherine Taber

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Oakwood resident Catherine Taber, 70, a retired supervisor of housekeeping at Staten Island University Hospital who was an avid New York Yankees fan, died Sunday at Staten Island University Hospital, Prince's Bay.

Born Catherine Fragano in Great Kills, she graduated from the former St. Louis Academy in Pleasant Plains. She moved to Tottenville in 1969, to Prince's Bay in 1975 and to Oakwood in 2005.

For 24 years, she worked as a supervisor of housekeeping at Staten Island University Hospital, Prince's Bay. She retired in the late 1990s.

Mrs. Taber was an avid New York Yankees fan. She liked to watch the games on television and at the Bronx stadium.

She was a bird watcher and could identify many different types of bird.

She also knit, making hats and blankets for the family and friends and donating them to pregnancy centers.

She was a loving, devoted mother and grandmother, her family said.

"She was a special person and a lot of fun," said her daughter, Maria Barracato.

Her husband, Arthur, died in 2000.

In addition to her daughter, Maria, also surviving are her sons, James and Frank Harding; another daughter, Cathy Harding; two brothers, Vincent and Ben Fragano, and two grandchildren.

The funeral will be Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home,

Services: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Thursday, March 31,2011- 11:00AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Wednesday, March 30,2011- 2-4 & 7-9PM

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home