thank you to everyone, I got it to work. Here is how I did it...

%cat_options = Admin_Get_Cat_options_hash();

# Here is Admin_Get_Cat_options_hash code:
sub Admin_Get_Cat_options_hash {
my %options_list;
    $sth = $dbh->prepare (qq{ SELECT id,c_name FROM categories });
    $sth->execute();
    while (my ($id,$c_name) = $sth->fetchrow_array()) {
        $options_list{$id} = $c_name;
    }
    $sth->finish();

return(%options_list);
}
[download]

That worked.
Thanks for the idea to have it in a sub, dws

thx,
Richard