Vivie Babb was born in Szombothely, Hungary on July 12, 1944 to Countess Csaky and Ladislas Lofo de Csik-Karczfalva Gidro. At that time Hungary was under communist occupation forcing the family to flee to France during the 1956 uprising. After fleeing, Vivie was placed in the care of William Babb, an international banker from Abilene, Texas and his wife, Alice, who soon adopted her. Vivie completed a doctorate of French Literature at the Sorbonne in Paris. She then moved stateside to teach French literature and language at St Francis College in Pennsylvania, and later at the State University of New York at Potsdam. While at Potsdam Vivie developed a second expertise in Math and Computer Science, and went on to teach in these areas at St Bonaventure University in Olean, New York. She re-located to Knoxville, Tennessee in the early 1990's where she was working towards a PhD in Computer Intelligence at UT.

Throughout her life, Vivie was a keen lover of the arts, nature and animals. She taught and participated in canoeing, sailing, and hiking and supported many wildlife funds and organizations. She was best known by those who knew her, however, for the tremendous work that she performed with animal rescue. Through Vivie’s tireless efforts and endless dedication she was able to place hundreds of stray or abandoned cats (and some dogs as well) into new and loving homes. Cat rescue became Vivie’s passion. Unfortunately her efforts were cut short when she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Vivie passed away on June 24, 2004 and it was her dying wish that all of her remaining cats be adopted into permanent, loving homes. Thirteen of Vivie’s original cats are still awaiting their forever homes. They are each current on all veterinary care and ongoing efforts have been made to further their socialization skills. Please check out their descriptions to see if one of these kitties might be right for you. For more information or to meet one of Vivie’s Cats please fill the Contact Us form or email us .