Late 1920s
THE SALT OF THE EARTH
All my grandparents died before I was born. George and Eva Lee (or Evalee) were Papa and Mama to my mother. They married in 1889 and had four children born between1890 and 1904. After 41 years of marriage, Eva Lee died in 1930 and George in 1932. He was diagnosed with heart failure in the late 1920s and Mother always said Eva Lee “worried herself to death about Papa.”
Mother adored her father. After she was widowed he helped her buy some property and they all lived together in the black and white log house on Decatur Pike. Mother saved the 1932 newspaper clipping of his obituary.
“G.W. Cate, prominent and highly respected citizen of this city, died at his home on the Athens-Decatur drive this morning (June 25, 1932) at 12:45 o’clock, of heart trouble, of long standing. . .Thruout the day, and until a short time after midnight, he remained conscious until the last few minutes and left words of consolation to his loved ones who were at the bedside when the end came.
He was a member of the Christian church, was a devoted Christian man, an honor to the community in which he has lived. Mr. Cate was married to Miss Eva Ensminger, March, 1889, who preceded him to the great beyond two years ago. “
This newspaper obituary is striking in describing a simple but good man, deeply loved by his family and greatly respected by his community. The tender memories of his final “words of consolation” confirmed how much he loved his family. Then he followed his Eva Lee “to the great beyond.”
Seeing a story 