Catherine N. Chea

Catherine N. Chea May 1, 1944 - May 12, 2026 Catherine Nygba Chea, a retired textile worker, devoted Christian and proud Kru woman whose celebrated cooking and care helped hold generations of family together, died May 12, 2026, in Maplewood, Minn. She was 82. Mother Catherine, a longtime U.S. resident, was born May 1, 1944, in Monrovia, Liberia, to Rev. Peter Chea and his wife, Naomi. She attended grade school in Liberia and later earned a living as a small-scale vendor in Monrovia, selling oranges and plantain chips. Mother Catherine immigrated to the U.S. in 1980 and settled in Brooklyn, New York. For years, she worked as a textile sorter at North Atlantic Trading in the South Bronx. In 1992, she relocated to Toledo, Ohio, and later took a position at NuCentury Textile Services. In 2007, then retired, she moved to Minnesota to be closer to family. Mother Catherine had eight children. Hardworking and generous, she financially supported her children and other relatives in the U.S. and in Africa for decades. She was the legal guardian of her twin grandsons, Devin and Kevin Boeing, from their infancy. She embraced the second round of motherhood and was proud of raising them. Her Christian faith was central to her life. The last child of Rev. Peter Chea, she was raised in the word, attending Christ Pentecostal Church, her father's church in Monrovia, multiple times a week with family. When Mother Catherine immigrated to the U.S., her strong faith remained. She was a founding member of Christ Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn, one of the first Liberian churches in New York. In Toledo, she was also a dedicated churchgoer. She was a longtime member of Redeemed Life Ministries International in Mounds View, Minn., where she was known as "Mother Chea" to fellow congregants. She was also a member of Calvary Redemption Church of God in Logan Town, Liberia. Mother Catherine was a celebrated cook in her family. Her culinary skills were honed in Liberia, where she was named family cook in her youth, preparing and deftly dividing meals for her large extended family at their house on Front Street in Monrovia. In America, she kept the Liberian culinary tradition alive, cooking meals that connected a new generation of relatives to Liberia through food. Mother Catherine's kalah and rice bread were always in high demand at family gatherings. She was a fiercely proud Kru woman who loved wearing tailored ankara garments as an expression of her African identity. The Chea family originally hailed from Tarloh, a small town in Grand Kru County, where the purest form of Kru is spoken. Mother Catherine took special pride in that linguistic heritage, sharing the language and her family's proud lineage with relatives and others alike. She enjoyed calling her favorite prayer line for hours of worship, attending Sunday church services, reading her Bible every day and spending time with her family. Mother Catherine was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Mary Chea; and brothers Amos, George, James and Samuel Chea. Mother Catherine is survived by sons Samuel Williams, Rudolph Brown, Othello Brown, Ozendick Brima and Roosevelt (Michelle) Jackson; daughters Josephine (Jerome) Pedersen, Minnie Johnson and Emma Sapong; 21 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins. The wake will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 5, at Redeemed Life International Church, 7901 Red Oak Dr., Mounds View, Minn. The funeral will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 6, at Redeemed Life. Interment will follow at Glen Haven Memorial Gardens, 5125 W. Broadway, Crystal, Minn. The repast will be at the church after the burial. Additionally, a simultaneous memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. (Liberian time) Saturday at Calvary Redemption Church