Born on November 27, 1919, Catherine Conroy was the adopted daughter of James and Amelia Conroy of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She grew up on Milwaukee's west side where her father was an art and antique dealer. James Conroy lost his business during the Depression. Because of the reversal in his fortunes, after her graduation from West Division High School Catherine went to work for Milwaukee County doing kitchen and housekeeping work. In 1942 she began working for the Wisconsin Telephone Company as a long distance operator, and later as a training instructor. She became an officer in the Telephone Guild of Wisconsin which evolved into Local 5500 (later Local 4600) of the Communication Workers of America. Her leadership positions with this union included picket captain (for the 1947 national strike of telephone workers), steward, business manager, and division officer. She headed the local from 1951, when the local was reorganized as part of the Communications Workers of America, until 1960 when she became a representative of the CWA International. In that capacity Conroy was responsible for collective bargaining and contract negotiations in eastern Wisconsin, as well as monitoring the activities of ten locals. In 1967 her union work took her to Chicago. In 1974 Conroy became the first woman appointed to the Wisconsin AFL-CIO executive board.
Conroy's involvement in the women's movement began in 1963 when, at the recommendation of Robert Ozanne of the School for Workers, she was appointed to the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women. She was one of the founding members of the National Organization for Women, briefly serving on the NOW board. She also helped to organize and served as the first president of Chicago NOW. In addition, she was an officer of both the state and Milwaukee organizations of the Coalition of Labor Union Women and she was appointed to President Carter's Advisory Commission for Women.
Although Conroy devoted most of her attention to the causes of labor and women's rights she was also involved with the governing boards of many civic and charitable organizations, including the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin, and the Natural Resources Board, the Board of Catholic Social Services, and United Fund of Greater Milwaukee.
Catherine Conroy died of cancer on February 18, 1989.
