Dorothy Cate

Dorothy Wright Cate, 89, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at Spartanburg Regional Hospice Home. Born in Monterey, Tennessee, on May 7, 1930, to Dillard Lester Wright and Annie Lawson Wright, Dorothy grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, where in 1951 she married Robert Louis Cate. Over the next 54 years, they led a remarkable life together, living in Nashville; Louisville, Kentucky, where she supported him while he earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy; Campbellsville, Kentucky; McRae, Georgia; and Aiken, South Carolina, where they pastored churches; Mill Valley, California, where he served as Professor of Old Testament and later Dean of Academic Affairs at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and she began her antique business; Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he served as Phoebe Schertz Young Professor of Religion and she sold antiques; and finally, Spartanburg, South Carolina, where they retired. Along the way, they travelled around the world and to Europe and the United Kingdom more than 50 times. They raised three children whom they loved almost as much as they loved each other, and they doted on their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Following Bob's death in 2005, Dorothy continued her antiques business and traveling for pleasure and as a member of the Baptist World Alliance General Council. Dorothy was a passionate believer in education: she attended five colleges and never let her children believe that they had any alternative but to pursue a college education. She loved her family and loved to travel, and was never happier than when traveling with her family. She enjoyed musical theatre and saved the programs from every musical she attended on Broadway or in London, and she liked to shop anywhere. She collected china, crystal, and antiques from the United Kingdom and Europe and delighted in sharing their beauty, their history, and the stories of how she (and usually Bob) discovered and transported them. She especially loved miniatures, and it was not unusual to find a dozen tea sets displayed in her living room. She had a deep, but quiet faith, and served faithfully in many Baptist churches. She had a core of steel and supported her husband, her children, and her friends unflinchingly. Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her brothers Fred Wright and Lester Wright; and her sisters Susie Wright Bramlett and Frances Wright Bumbalough. She is survived by her daughter Ruth Lawson Cate and her husband Charles White, also of Spartanburg; her sons Robert Louis Cate, Jr., and his wife Karen, of Greer, and Fred Harrison Cate and his wife Beth, of Bloomington, Indiana; four grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; her sister Patsy Wright Schwartz; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews. Family and friends will gather to celebrate Dorothy's life at 3:00 PM Saturday, December 14, at the home of Ruth Cate and Chuck White, 530 Sherwood Circle, in Spartanburg. No flowers please, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to the Robert L. and Dorothy W. Cate Research Fellowship, Furman University, Religion Department, 3300 Poinsett Highway, Greenville, SC 29613; or the Dorothy Cate Empowerment Fund, Girl Scouts of South Carolina - Mountains to Midlands, 5 Independence Point, Suite 120, Greenville, SC 29615. Floyd's North Church Street Chapel