Madeline B. Cuthbertson

Madeline Burks Cuthbertson died on April 29, 2006 at Buckner Villas nursing facility in Austin. The daughter of farmer Clifford Jackson Burks and Mamie Clyde Gibson, shw was born on November 27, 1920 in Troy, Alabama. Growing up on her parents farm, she earned high marks in her grade school classes, and got through the 1930s depression along with her mother, "Mama Clyde" and younger sister Marilyn. After Mama Clyde pleaded with the college president, Madeline was admitted to Troy State Teachers College, where she graduated in May, 1941 with a degree in education. She then began her teaching career in grade schools in Florida and Alabama just before the outbreak of WWII. After learning from a friend of a new U.S. Navy unit for women called the Waves, she decided to join the Navy in March, 1943. In June, 1943 she received orders to report to Northampton, Massachusetts for active duty, where she began training. She was shortly commissioned an Ensign in the Navy in July, 1943. And in August she received orders to report to the Hollywood, Florida Air Navigation School where she was promoted to Lieutenant (jg). In December, 1943, after completing her coursework, she was transferred to the Washington DC area. There she worked in Annapolis, Maryland on navigation training material for Navy pilots. This work continued until May, 1945, when Madeline was transferred to Dinner Key Naval Air Station near Miami, Florida. At Dinner Key, her flight log shows she logged numerous flights as a navigator. In late July, 1945 Madeline was transferred from Florida to the the Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, where she remained until meeting and marrying Navy Pilot Richard "Dick" Cuthbertson in December, 1946. Six months later, in May, 1947, Madeline was released from active service. She and Dick moved to Iowa City to pursue degrees at the University of Iowa. Her university records show that Madeline was a student teacher during her entire time at Iowa, writing numerous recommendation letters for students. She also joined the Phi Lambda Theta teaching sorority, of which she eventually became president before graduating. She obtained her MA (Master of Arts) in Education in September, 1949. Dick obtained his business degree the next year, in the summer of 1950. A few months later, in December, their first son Brian was born. After her husband Dick obtained his business degree and joined the J.C. Penney Company as a manager in training, he and Madeline moved to Mason City, Iowa where Madeline returned to her chosen profession as a substitute teacher in early 1952. In December, 1952 her second son Wayne was born. In 1956 Dick was transferred by J.C. Penney to their store in the farming town of Albion, Nebraska. Madeline obtained a Nebraska teaching certificate and continued her subsitute teaching there in addition to raising her two young sons. Brian started kindergarten here. Two years later, in 1958, Dick was again transferred by J.C. Penney, this time to Newport, Arkansas, a county seat in the state's northeast rice belt. In Newport Madeline began fulltime teaching at the highschool level, and also joined the national educational association Delta Kappa Gamma, of which she would remain a member the rest of her career. In 1960 Dick accepted a management offer with Montgomery Wards and a move to Dallas, Texas. During the family's 2-year stay in Dallas, Madeline obtained a Texas teaching permit and continued her teaching at the city's Sunset High School. In 1962 Dick was again transferred, this time to Houston, Texas to a Montgomery Mall store in the new Northline Mall. Malls were the wave of the future in 1962, and Houston was a quickly growing city. It was an exciting time to move there. With this move, the family bought their first home, at 4006 Bolivia in northwest Houston. This house was the focus of the family's remaining time together. While here, the two boys, Brian and Wayne, went from elementary school to leaving for college. Dick and Madeline divorced in 1978. During this entire period, Madeline focused her life on teaching, and on making sure her sons were ready for college, to the extent she could. She eventually assumed chairmanship of the mathematics department at Houston's Reagan High School. Her focus was advanced mathematics, which she loved to teach. Algebra, geometry, slide rule, number sense all were her area. She was also active in her church, St. Stephen's Methodist, as a member of the Lydia group - a women's service group. Life can change slowly, and then quickly. Changes began when older son Brian left in 1969 to pursue a degree in physics (astronomy), followed by Wayne a couple of years later. With the 1978 divorce, things changed fundamentally. The house was sold, and Madeline moved to a small townhome where she lived while she continued to teach. But her teaching career was winding down - she retired in 1981. She once told Brian that she could have taught longer, but was no longer allowed to teach the way she liked - too much administrative overhead and red tape was getting in the way. After her teaching retirement in 1981, Madeline drifted a little. There were some new age groups that didn't pan out, a boyfriend who died. However, she was drawn to volunteer work, both through her church and outside of it. Meanwhile her sons, still in Austin, were beginning their careers. Brian became a software engineer, as eventually did Wayne. Wayne married first, in August, 1981 to Pat Gough of Corpus Cristi. Brian married Karen Sholtz in April, 1984. Later in 1984, Madeline's granddaughter, Evan, was born to Wayne and Pat. The next year, 1985, was significant. In January Madeline began volunteer work at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. This work would continue for several years, and eventually earn her recognition for over 1000 hours served. In April, 1985 Madeline took a once-in-a-lifetime trip with a group led by her church minister to see Egypt and the Holy Land. She kept mementos of this trip for the rest of her life. In late 1985 she also began volunteer visitations at a Houston area nursing home as part of her church work. This work would also continue for several years. In October 1990, Madeline's second grandchild, grandson David, was born to Wayne and Pat. Finally at 71, in 1992 Madeline made the decision to move to Austin to be near her sons and their families. It was hard, because she had lifelong Houston friends in both education and her church, while in Austin she would be relatively isolated except for her sons. But health problems were cropping up, and so she decided it was best to be near family. She bought a condo in northwest Austin not far from Brian in April, 1992, transferring her church membership from St. Stephens in Houston to a nearby Austin church, Northwest Hills United Methodist, that summer. The Austin move set the final stage for Madeline's life. The years after 1992 contained many activities and short trips associated with her new church, volunteer driving for Meals on Wheels and related groups, and one last great trip - a 1993 Caribbean cruise aboard the ship Statendam. But medical problems were increasing. In 1996 her son Brian took over handling her finances, which she was losing the ability to manage. There were good times and bad times, but by 2003 at 82 it became apparent that Madeline could no longer live independently. In October, after she was found wandering near her condo, Brian had to move her to an assisted living facility. In December, 2003 she was diagnosed with Alzheimers Disease. After an August 2004 move to Buckner Villas nursing facility in Austin, Madeline finally passed away on April 29, 2006. She died in her room on a sunny Saturday morning during a visit by her sons Brian and Wayne, and grandson Dave. She could have died anytime, but waited to pass peacefully while we were there with her. What to say in summary? She was a first and foremost a teacher; she loved to teach. As she was drifting into Alzheimers a letter arrived from a student from years past, now an engineer. It thanked her for the great math education she had given him, and told how her enthusiasm had impacted his future career choice. This was what drove her. She also had the chance to lead the introduction of women into the Navy during WWII. And she was humble enough to volunteer to help those she could, as long as she was able. It was a life with its share of difficulties, but a life well-lived. I will miss her. -Brian Cuthbertson Madeline was buried in her hometown of Troy, Alabama, next to her father and mother. She is survived by sons Brian and Wayne and their families, younger sister Marilyn Phillips and her niece Marcia Gorman. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Alzheimers related organizations such as www.alz.org.