She was the wife of Simon Pechan and daughter of Mathias and Caroline Apfeld. Her birthdate is debatable - records state anywhere from 1825-1832. The tombstone states 1832. However, her sister Constantine has a March 1832 birthdate, so it is unlikely Katharina's is 1832 as is stated on her tombstone. Also, the tombstone states Apr. 1, however the age calculates to April 30th from the exact age given in the death register book in Meeker County records.


Simon and Katherine came to the US from Germany on the Ernst Moritz Arndt in 1852. They came at the same time on, the same ship as her brother Bernhard and his wife, Louisa Apfeld. They had three children with them when they came to the US. They were Mathias, Paul and Bibiane. They first went to Guttenburg, Iowa. Simon's trade was listed as a carpenter on the ship records, as well as in the 1856 Iowa census in Guttenburg. Bibiane must have died sometime between 1856-1860 as she was not listed with the family in any records after 1856. Guttenburg is where their children Barbara, Bernard and Maria were born. Sometime between 1860-1875, they moved to Wayalusing, Grant County, Wisconsin where they were until about 1883. The youngest two daughters, Catherine and Regina were born in Wisconsin. They then moved to Forest Prairie, Meeker County, Minnesota, where they spent the rest of their days.
Katherine and her husband Simon Pechan purchased 40 acres of land in Forest Prairie and later, he owned the West Hotel in Watkins, MN for several years around 1900, then his daughter Barbara and her husband Ernest Bahr ran the hotel for a while during Simon's last years. Their son-in-law Henry Zencius, (husband of their youngest daughter Regina), was the administrator of Katherine's estate when it went through probate court in 1912 after Simon's death.