Cathy Scott -Eulogy
Catherine Joan Caston was born at Homestead AFB, Florida on March 7th, 1970. It was a day of a total eclipse. Brother Jim and Grandma Bintz were going to watch it through a peephole they created out of cardboard and a mirror. I am sure they didn’t realize that the bright light they were watching through a peephole was nothing compared to the light that came into the world on that day.
Cathy Jo as she would be known as a babe, came home and Jim was excited… Loved that baby girl. One morning shortly after she was born, she woke up and was making baby noises… Jim was concerned that she needed food, and Mom was still asleep. He got her out of her crib and took her to the couch where he decided she should have some raisins. Well, Cathy Jo survived that feeding and had a bottle shortly after!
Cathy is the daughter of Mace and Lloyd Ann Caston, the beloved wife of John Daniel Scott, the Mother of Christopher David Moore and Casey Jordan Scott, the Step-mother of Shane Matthew Scott and Joshua Andrew Scott. She is the Grandmother of Elijah and Charlie Moore and most recently Murphy Elise Scott.
Cathy was raised as a Military Brat. At 6 months of age she arrived at Hahn, AFB in Germany where she spent the first 3 years of her life. Her Father was stationed there with the Air Force. Since that time she has lived in several different states.
Cathy Jo was raised going to church every Sunday and learned very early about Jesus and His love for her. She invited Him into her heart so early in life she never remembered when that happened. One day when she was about 5 years old, she came running into the house so excited! Mama, Mama she said, I told my friend about Jesus and she asked Jesus into her heart. She was so happy she was bubbling over in joy! It would be the first of many people she would share Jesus with throughout her life here on earth.
One of her best times happened when we were stationed at Barksdale AFB, in Florida. She was a young teen and was involved with school sports and was a cheerleader. This is where she got the worst Sunburn of her life, and where she got to romp in the ocean and where she met lifelong friends. She treasured her friends because she was seldom in a place long enough to get to really know others.
As an older teen, we were back in North Dakota, she went a little wild… One night about midnight or later, my phone rang… The call was official sounding. This is Sargent so and so with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Do you know where your Daughter is they asked… No, no I don’t, I replied. Well she has entered Canada illegally with her friend Destiny. OK, I said… still half asleep. “Do you want to come get her? He asked. I said, how did she get there? He said with some airman from Minot AFB…. And I said, well she can get home the same way she got there then. Several hours later she was home…. Not sure why they let them all go that night, because illegally crossing the border is a Big Deal, but somehow she made it home. She may have been grounded for some time after that…. Too bad I don’t remember!
Some time later she met and married Mark Moore and celebrated the birth of her first Son Christopher. They were living in California at the time. Right before he was born she knew something was wrong, and even though the Dr told her she was fine and to go home she insisted that they check her out. They finally did, and discovered a serious problem with the baby.…She was taken in for an emergency C section. Chris was born healthy and perfect and in a few days they were home from the hospital. Her insistence saved his life that day! She knew something was wrong and they needed to figure out what it was. She was tenacious about that, as she always was when she knew something needed correction. Shortly after Chris’s birth she would Graduate from High School. Chris was there cheering her on, although only in baby gibberish.
After a few months, they returned to North Dakota, however her marriage to Mark was short lived, A divorce occurred, which probably was the best of all possible happenings because,
as things sometimes happen in life she fell in love with her soul-mate, John Daniel Scott. They were married and then there were 5 because John had his two boys. They lived and laughed and struggled as every family does, but at some point they decided they would move to Alaska. She had successfully completed her college classes and Graduated with a degree in criminal justice. The day they were leaving was the same day as 9 /eleven. The border into Canada was closed so it wasn’t until 9/12 they began their journey. After trying for several years to have another child, none came until Alaska… Her Son Casey was born while they were living in a remote village in Alaska. The last month she spent in Anchorage to await the birth since she needed a specialty hospital for possible complications. When it was time, she went to the hospital and tried and tried to call John who was still in that village. He finally woke up and managed to make the only flight into anchorage that day and made it in time for his Son’s Birth. Casey was nameless for a couple of days, because the doctors had told them it was a girl. So there in the hospital they had to find the right name without months to choose one.
Casey and Mom and Dad and Grandma(that was me) had to fly home. The plane was so small you couldn’t stand up in it, and it was the worst weather you could imagine. The plane would drop and then it would rock side to side… I think there were a couple of other stops along the way. I don’t know about anyone else, but I prayed mighty hard that day… We all made it back to that village alive and well. It was quickly learned that Casey didn’t sleep very well, and so they also learned quickly that he would sleep if you put him in his car seat and set him on the dryer with it running. We guess it was probably the need for noise and bumping along, just like that plane ride was.
Within a couple of years, John and Cathy and their family returned to North Dakota where they resided in Minot at the the place we all called “the farm!” They remained there until a flood in 2011 destroyed the house and property, at which time they made their new home in Jamestown, North Dakota and where they have remained ever since.
Cathy deeply loved her family and was always there with encouragement, and a listening ear. She was a woman with great kindness, compassion and love. Her favorite book was one called “What’s so Amazing about Grace,” by Philip Yancey. Cathy lived GRACE. She shared GRACE and she always gave GRACE to whoever she cane in contact with. She bought a shirt that said to Always be kind it was one of her favorites. It didn’t just say it once but several times.
Cathy was the perfect Pastors wife while John was preaching at a church in Westhope North Dakota. Unfortunately that ended when the flood happened, and John never went back to preaching until today. Today he will preach the sermon. Cathy loved his sermons, and she would tell him regularly how good it was, and how it connected with people where they were. When we were trying to figure out who could do the sermon, John said it was like he heard Cathy say to him… You preach it. You are the perfect one. And he said Yes, He would do it for her.
The world is a better place because Cathy lived. She touched the lives of so many people in so many places. We will miss her terribly and will never forget her and the love she shared with us all.
When you spoke to her, to tell her your problems she would often say… What are you grateful for? And tell you go… you have a few minutes while I finish my coffee.
One of the organizations that Cathy dearly loved was Al-Anon. This is a group who’s friends or families have struggled with addiction. Our family has, and she found this group to be where she learned to become her own person, to accept the choices that others make, and to just love them as they are. Cathy sponsored others in this program, she made friends in this group and loved them dearly. She was invited to speak at meetings, rallies and conventions. She had a gift for sharing the pain and showing the way to live your life and find joy and satisfaction in it and she made people laugh. Cathy has cards from people telling her how much her words touched them, how she helped them and how they have found strength and courage as they struggled with some of the same issues. Cathy always knew how to make people laugh, even when they were sad she had a way that allowed them to find the humor in their situation, and she was the queen of a quip. Always had that fast answer and come-back. I am sure that today she would find the fun in spending time with her cousins and family and she would want us to laugh.
I have to share a little about My Girl… One day she came home to the Farm and she was sobbing…. She said she had been listening to a song on the radio and it touched her so deeply she began to weep. She said she had to pull over because she had so many tears she couldn’t see to drive. She was still weeping as she came in the door. The song that touched her so deeply was the song we are going to sing now. It is called “I can only imagine”. It talks of what it will be like when we meet Jesus face to face.
We now know that Cathy has met Jesus Face to face and she KNOWS what the streets of gold look like, she knows how it feels to be free of pain, to be filled with the love of Christ, to sing with angels and dance to the joys of knowing and loving our Lord.
Thank you for listening, please join in this song. The words are on your print-out and if I can get them to play on my computer we will be in business!
Thank you all for coming and sharing this time where we can brag about Cathy… She loved us all so deeply, and was so caring and non-judgmental. She made everyone around her better because of who she was and how she loved.
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