Kathleen Pacetti

Asheville, Margaret Kathleen Robinson Pacetti, age 101, passed away on Sunday, October 30, 2016 at Givens Health Center. A native of Duval County, she was born in Jacksonville, Florida on March 16, 1915 to Alice Simmons and Houston Robinson. When she was two her parents divorced. She was reared by her aunt and uncle Nel and Lockwood Bonnell. Because of his asthma they left Tampa and moved to Asheville, NC where she started school. Claxton School opened when she was in the third grade. After Lockwood's death the next year Nell and she returned to Jacksonville. Nel remarried, and Kathleen in 6th grade went to live with her grandparents James Jackson and Kathleen Robinson Jackson. She rode the school bus 15 miles to St. Augustine each day to school. She and Madison Francis Pacetti became an item their senior year at Katterlinus High School, 1933, in the depth of the Great Depression. Madison went to the University of Florida, Kathleen to Florida State College for Women (now F.S.U.), graduating in 1937, Madison in 1939 from University of Florida Law School. They married December 19, 1937. The first year Kathleen taught school in Branford, Florida, a small town on the banks of the Suwanee River. In June 1940, she joined Madison in West Palm Beach where he practiced law until his death in 1994 with the law firm which became Caldwell & Pacetti which continues to this day. Kathleen and Madison resided in West Palm Beach, Florida for over 50 years where they developed strong personal and professional ties with the community. They built a summer home in Maggie Valley, NC in 1982, subsequently learned about Givens Estates and applied for admittance which took 6 years. In 1995 Kathleen moved into a duplex where she lived until 2014, then Assisted Living 2 ½ weeks when a disastrous fall sent her to Givens Health Center. Excellent care and attractive surroundings made life worth living. Kathleen served on all levels of W.S.C.S./U.M.W of the United Methodist Church, served as President of the Y.W.C.A. in West Palm Beach. A special love was the P.E.O. Sisterhood Florida State Chapter where she was a member of Chapter AA. In 1976 she organized Chapter ER. In Asheville she transferred to Chapter AC where in 2012 she became a fifty-year member of P.E.O. Kathleen enjoyed club work, gardening, and traveling with Madison. Kathleen's exuberant spirit remained with her throughout her life. She successfully renewed her driver's license at the time of her 100th birthday. Kathleen returned to her Episcopal roots December 2011. Kathleen is survived by her son, Stephen Bowden Pacetti, and his wife, Julianne, of Lakewood, Colorado; her beloved cousins in Charleston and Columbia, SC and in Alabama; along with many dear friends, and especially the Reverend D.D. and Anne Clewis and Tadziu and Robin Trotsky A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher with The Reverend W. Rian Adams, The Reverend Ashley Crowder Stanley, The Reverend David Reeves and The Reverend Douglas Clewis officiating. Inurnment will be held at the Calvary Churchyard Columbarium. The family will receive friends at a reception following the memorial service at the church. Memorials may be made to Calvary Episcopal Church, Food Pantry, 2840 Hendersonville Road, Fletcher, NC 28732; Pisgah Legal Services, P.O. Box 2276, Asheville, NC 28802, or to a church or any agency helping the hungry, the homeless or the abused.

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