Memorials › Esther May Vermillion Cate
Esther May Vermillion Cate
31 May 1898 – 14 Jan 2000
| Birth | 31 May 1898 |
| Death | 14 Jan 2000 |
| Cemetery | Altoga Cemetery Altoga , Collin County , Texas , USA |
| Added by | Phillip Snow on 05 Aug 2004 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5982062 |
Bio
Esther May Cate, affectionately known as Mama May, of Van Alstyne, died Jan. 14, 2000. May was born to Samuel Bell Vermillion and Theodocia Ernest Dunn Vermillion in Altoga, Collin County, Texas on May 31, 1898. She made a profession of faith at the age of twelve at Altoga Baptist Church and became an avid Bible reader teaching by actions as well as teaching Sunday School. She was a member of First Baptist Church Van Alstyne for sixty-three years and enjoyed subsituting and later teaching in Sunday School. The fourth of eleven children, she was taught to love work and to live her life helping others. She briefly attended North Texas Normal College, now the University of North Texas and started teaching at eighteen years of age at Stiff Chapel and later at Viney Grove, both in Collin County. On January 16, 1921, she married Homer Perry Cate in Altoga. In 1936, they bought a farm near Van Alstyne where they raised their six children, all of whom attended the University of North Texas. May, a 50-year member of the Order of Eastern Star, has been Chapter Mother of the Leah Elliott Chapter for several years. During her life, she was a school teacher, a private nurse, a physical therapy aid, a storekeeper, a farmer's wife, but most of all she was a loving, caring, nurturing mother. May was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, one daughter, Doris Burkett of Irving and one great-grandson, Hugh H. Wilson III (Trey) of Hale Center. She is survived by three daughters, Dorothy Baker of Irving, Ruby Noel, retired School Media Specialist, Dallas Independent School District and her husband James Murle Noel, retired administrator, Plano Independent School District of Plano, Mildred Parker of Tulsa; two sons, Charles Cate and his wife Dietlinde of Van Alstyne, Maurice (Smokey) Cate and his wife Foy Jean of Pilot Grove; 21 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by two sisters, Bonnie Vermillion and Leta Howard of Denton and a sister-in-law, Mildred Vermillion of Van Alstyne. Local family members include grandchildren, Sherry (Mrs. Jeff) DeHay, Harrison and Hunter of Waco; James Jr. (Jim), (Mary) Kristina May, James III and Rachel, all of Suffolk, Va., Carol An (Mrs. Eric) Vaughan of Moscow, Russia; grandchild, Diane (Mrs. Darwin) Patrick of Plano; and great-grandchildren, Kellie (Mrs. Stephen) Getty, and great-great grandson, Corwin of Plano, Kurt (Elicia) Patrick of Frisco and Kevin (Jennifer) Patrick of Kingwood. Family visitation was held at Flesher's Funeral Home Van Alstyne from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, 2000. Services were held 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17, 2000, at First Baptist Church Van Alstyne. Rev. Jimmy Tarrant, pastor, officiated. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the First Baptist Church of Van Alstyne Building Fund.
Inscription
Mama May
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Family
Parents
Spouse
Siblings
- Osie Vermillion 1885–1886 FaG
- Samuel Oren Vermillion 1888–1960 FaG
- Love Lee Vermillion Priest 1891–1988 FaG
- Wilma Vermillion Stiff 1900–1987 FaG
- Mark Harvey Vermillion Sr 1903–1983 FaG
- Bonnie Pauline Vermillion 1905–2006 FaG
- Ova Lorain Vermillion Wilson 1908–1981 FaG
- Leta Vermillion Howard 1910–2005 FaG
- Joe Dunn Vermillion 1913–1982 FaG
Children
- Doris Nell Cate Burkett 1922–1991
- Dorothy Cate Baker 1925–2022
- Charles Dossey Cate 1927–2011
- Ruby Ruth Cate Noel 1929–2018
- Maurice Norman "Smokey" Cate 1933–2017
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