Lucelle Monk Cates Shugart

Lucelle Monk Cates Shugart was a native of Alto in Cherokee County, Texas. Lucelle graduated from West Columbia High School, in West Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas. She enjoyed a loving marriage to Francis Cates, with whom she shared 28 years before his passing. She was fortunate to find love a second time, and married Paul Shugart, her husband for 18 years.
Those also proceeding her in death are her son, James Edward Cates, who lived only one day; her parents, William and Sudie Monk; and her sister, Willie Lee Johnson.
She was a devoted mother to her daughter, Marie, and took great happiness when Marie married Ronnie Bush. Lucelle also took great pleasure in her grandchildren, Christopher Heath (wife Emily Ferman), Matthew Alexander, and Heather Marie (husband Kevin Ashby), and her great-grandchildren, Chloe and Connor Bush, and Jackson and Jordan Ashby.
Lucelle retired from a notable career with the U.S. Postal Service, which began when she was 16 and spanned 33 years when she retired as Postmaster. She was a Christian and a valued member of First Baptist Church in Waxahachie.

Lucelle, a sixth-generation Texan, is part of a Lone Star Legacy that includes her great-grandfather, Dr. Matthew Alexander Gaston, who served as a Major in the Texas Infantry during the Civil War, was twice elected to the Texas House of Representatives, and was a delegate to the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1875.

Through her years, she has honored her family’s distinctive heritage through her membership in the Eastern Star where she was just recently presented her 70-year pin and certificate; the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

For over nine decades, Lucelle Monk Cates Shugart, has brought happiness into the lives of those fortunate enough to share in her love, friendship, and in her Christian witness.