Catherine Olive Breithaupt was born January 28, 1896 in Berlin (later Kitchener) Ontario to parents Louis Jacob Breithaupt and Emma Alvarene Devitt. She was educated at Berlin Collegiate Institute, Ontario Ladies' College (Whitby), Boston University School of Social Service and Related Religious Education, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She married Arthur Vincent Bennett, a musician born in Kansas, living in Kitchener on November 22, 1921 in Kitchener.

The couple lived in the Boston area where Arthur was a clergyman in the Episcopal church in Fitchburg, Massachusetts with Catherine maintaining close ties with her Ontario family. They had two children: Arthur Vincent and Joan Catherine.

Catherine was active in matters related to her husband's church, in music, choirs, and art. Her art work was frequently exhibited and in 1976 she was awarded the Sarah Parker Award by the Fitchburg Gallery. Catherine died August 16, 1977 in Fitchburg.