Hermosa Woman Devotes Time to Youth

Editor's Note: Cathy McCurdy was nominated by a Hermosa Beach Patch reader to be featured in our '' series. If you know of an extraordinary Hermosa resident, send your nominations to jacqueline@patch.com.

Sitting at the kitchen table of her Hermosa Beach home, Cathy McCurdy quietly went down the long list of her community service experiences.

She has founded two organizations—Kiwanis Builders Club at and Hermosa Beach Education Foundation—and has been a president of at least three more. 

Some organizations she has volunteered with for more than a decade, and she has even won the Hermosa Beach "" award.

But upon reflection of her local achievements, just one contribution continued to stick out in her mind: working with children.

After being asked what her best memories were, Cathy, who has been a resident of Hermosa Beach for nearly 40 years and serves on the , tilted her head upward for a few moments, then smiled.

"Just seeing how the light bulb goes on for the kids in terms of seeing the community and the world as a larger place and how they can contribute to it is great," she said.

Together with the middle school students in her Hermosa Valley Kiwanis Builders Club, Cathy collected buttons that have been displayed on the 9/11 memorial bench on Pier Avenue, between Valley Drive and Ardmore Avenue.

"Each button was collected from a student, a celebrity, a congressman, a family member that wanted people to remember what took place on that fateful day," Gabrielle Wolf, the young president of the builders club at the time , told Patch last year.

Cathy said the youth in the builders club also have contributed to the community through the annual .

"I take a group of about 10 kids to Target in December and they spend about $1,000 that Kiwanis contributes to the Beach Cities Toy Drive, and I have them pick stuff for their age group that are often left out of toy drives," she said. "It’s just seeing the young people get connected, and feeling part of the community. That’s probably the greatest contribution I think I’ve made, just working with the kids."

McCurdy’s history with community service and youth involvement has been a life-long passion that began as early as her teenage years at Redondo Union High School. 

After taking psychology courses at El Camino College in Torrance, she worked part time with doctors before volunteering to become a South Bay Hotline Listener where she worked to provide counseling and help to "at-risk" callers.

Following that, she notably was elected to the Board of Trustees.

"I was just a parent that was concerned about some of the actions of the board at the time," she said. "So I was compelled to step up and say how we ought to look at things in a different way."

Together with her husband of 33 years, Richard, Cathy has a 31-year-old son, Shea, who, as a member of the Inglewood Police Department, has won the Medal of Valor two times.

Alongside Richard, Cathy co-owned a glass distribution business while continually and concurrently volunteering her time with local clubs, councils, and organizations, such as the Hermosa Beach Coordinating Council, the , and the Sister City Association.

Cathy also was the Hermosa Beach representative to the Los Angeles County Beach Commission for about a decade. Much of her work has led up to her winning the 1998 "Woman of the Year" award, chosen by the .

Cathy said that she wouldn’t have been able to do all she has done without the help of her husband and community.

"I grew up here in Hermosa Beach," she said. "Lots of folks know each other and you can have an impact."