Cecilia A. Caton,'s Obituary
Cecilia Anderson Caton was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina on March 28, 1939, to Cecil and Margaret Anderson (Sanders). Surrounded by family, she died in Gainesville, Florida on November 26, 2023, from complications related to dementia. There is a memorial service at First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, Florida on Saturday, February 24, 2024 at 11 am.
Cecilia completed her undergraduate studies at Columbia College, Columbia, South Carolina. She then moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to study Medical Technology at the University of Virginia. She was the first person in her family to move from South Carolina in six generations. Following graduation, she remained in Charlottesville and worked at the University Hospital in its clinical laboratories. It was there, in 1963, that she met her future husband, Donald Caton. They married six weeks later before setting off to Taiwan for Donald’s two years of military service. Donald and Cecilia loved to travel while learning about the history, culture and food where they visited. During their sixty years together, they visited every continent as well as the Arctic and Antarctic. Cecilia had a sharp mind, loved to read and was a fierce competitor playing Scrabble.
Gainesville became Cecilia’s home in 1969. There she was a tireless volunteer in many organizations, among them the League of Women Voters, Women’s Medical Guild, The Alachua County Library Foundation, and the Friends of Music. A devoted music lover, she helped publicize concerts for First Presbyterian Church, the Department of Music (UF) as well as for the Center for Performing Arts when it was first organized. She later served on its Board.
A soprano, Cecilia participated in choirs throughout high school and college. At First Presbyterian Church, she sat in the front row of the chancel choir for more than fifty years. She also served as an elder, chaired several committees and helped organize music presentations, a book discussion group (Theology and Literature) as well as many concerts and lecture series. A dedicated mother, Cecilia was passionate about the education of children, including the preschool and logos programs and the youth choirs. Shortly before her death she said that watching children discover new things had been one of her greatest joys.
Cecilia is survived by her loving and devoted husband Donald, her three daughters, Sarah Mutschlecner (Tim), Rachel Beck and Caroline Caton, her grandchildren Audrey Krehlik (Zach), Megan Helwig (Parker), Elliott Mutschlecner, Emma Beck, and Alex Beck, four great-grandchildren as well as by her siblings: James Anderson, Nancy Umberhandt and Martha Tinsley.
Cecilia’s family is most grateful for the compassionate and professional service of the nurses and support staff of the Skilled Nursing Unit of Oak Hammock and for the care provided by Haven Hospice. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the First Presbyterian Church Music Fund, Gainesville, https://pushpay.com/g/1stpchurch?src=hpp. or the Staff Education Fund of Oak Hammock. https://www.oakhammock.org/careers/scholarships/
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