My grandmother came from Austria in 1911 her name was similar to Catharina Hawa.My mom was 10 when she died.?

My mom was 10 when my grandmother died and she doesn't know know much about her ,so I have been searching for years and can't find anything.I traced my grandfather, Jozef Katynski and his ancestors back to the 1500's.Here is the problem. My grandmother could not read or write in English so every doent has her name spelled different, for her first name I have, Katie, Catharina and Katherine, for her last name I have Hawa,Hawal,Haval.I know my moms family says her name was pronounced How-why and everyone called her Katie.My mom is 77 and I just want to help learn more about her mother. She was told she was Russian and Polish but she is not sure about that.She can't racall much of the language she spoke as a child, for the most part it seems to be Polish but different from Polish speaking people she has met here and there.My grandmother had a brother and sister ,Rosie and Sam