Catherine Albanese Zbinden

May 7, 1934 - November 29, 2020

Catherine Albanese Zbinden, 86 of Leesburg, Virginia passed away peacefully on Sunday, November 29, 2020, at her home in Leesburg, Virginia. Cathy, as she was known, was born May 7, 1934 in the Bronx, New York. She was the third of five children born to the late Martino Albanese and the late Rose Santoro Albanese. She is reunited with her much loved siblings who previously passed away, Elizabeth Albanese Meyer, Theresa Albanese Bird and James Albanese. She leaves behind her sister Marie Albanese Romano, who she spoke to nearly every day. Cathy grew up in New York, and her distinct New York accent was still charming even after living in Virginia for 20 years. Cathy was proud of her New York hometown, and her Italian heritage. Cathy graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx, New York in 1952. Cathy’s love of children extended beyond her own family. She worked for many years in the Greenburgh School District in New York as a teacher’s aide both in the classroom and the school’s library. Cathy and her husband Hans spent time living in Vermont in the 1990s where they ran a restaurant together. Cathy was a creative woman and enjoyed working with ceramics, needlepoint, and scrapbooking, but she was well known for her knitting. Many family and friends were fortunate to receive her beautiful scarves and her much loved, gorgeous baby angel blankets. Cathy was a woman who loved life, Christmas, shopping, and singing loudly to her favorite artists, Scotty McCreery and Frank Sinatra. She loved cooking, one of her family favorites was eggplant parmigiana; and reading, but she loved her family most. She looked forward to the Thanksgiving tradition of renting a big house for one week with all 20 something of her family. There she would look around and say, “You are all here because of me. I started this.” And she would smile. Cathy is survived by her loving husband, Hans Zbinden, they would have celebrated 48 years of marriage on December 5th. In addition she is survived by her much loved family including daughters Lynne Gibson and her husband Keith, and daughter Christine Coco; and two sons, Steven Starace and his wife Oxana and Marc Zbinden and his wife Stephanie. Cathy was known as grandma to her 12 grandchildren, six girls and six boys; Danielle, who predeceased Cathy in 2002, Meghan and her husband Jason, Jillian and her husband Matthew, Michael, Christopher, Nicholas, Julia, Hannah, Ashley, Jacob, William and Luca; and two great grandchildren Austin and Everett. She leaves behind her sister Marie Albanese Romano, and many nieces, nephews, and extended family. A Funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, December 11th at Cornerstone Chapel located at 650 Battlefield Parkway SE, Leesburg, Virginia 20175. In lieu of flowers a donation may be made in Catherine’s honor to the American Heart Association or a charity of your choice. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.loudounfuneralchapel.com