Thanks for the help. I did find anything that took one 'back' to Applications didn't work ( at least for the Apps and programs I was trying to delete ). In some cases the Uninstaller for an app was also 'whited' out by Apple Catalina update, so that didn't work. After trying all that - your advise to "hunt down" the Apps was good advice.
In the end, I ended up using a free program I had installed in 2016 ( AppCleaner. app from FreeMacSoft.net ). It ended up doing the job on those apps that didn't otherwise work with your advise. I am not endorsing this program, just saying it worked for me and is still available. I'm sure there are other programs that work just as well.
The need is to delete the app or program AND all the associated files which may be all over the place, not just in Applications. The AppCleaner places the app in the Trash so you can recover any file that you may need and was 'accidentally' deleted. As you stated, just don't empty trash until you are sure you won't need the app or file associated with it.
You were correct that Microsoft Office program was difficult to completely delete. Some Programs, like Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, won't offer an update for Catalina as they want one to use their newer programs on a monthly rental. So looking for updates from program developers doesn't always work. A few did. So go that route first.
Some credit, and thanks, to Apple for allowing Catalina to 'open' my old Microsoft .doc, .exls files. Important ones had already been converted to Pages or Numbers. Looking forward to see if new incoming .doc's will also auto-convert as a number of my friends have Windows.
Thanks again for your help on this. ( minor correction - I have (had) Microsoft Office 2008 not 2007 as I had stated earlier )