- Date Of Birth: April 4, 1923
- Date Of Death: January 6, 2012
- State: Georgia
Roy Eugene (Gene) Cauthen April 4, 1923 – January 6, 2012 When speaking of his two long marriages, Gene Cauthen said, “It was like I went to town to get a Ford and came home with a Cadillac, twice.” He was talking about his first wife, Lillie Stanford, and his second wife, Janice Carter. He was married to Lillie for 45 years until her death in 1987 and to Jan for 20 years. He liked being married. There was never a honey-do list that was too long for him. Gene was always busy with household repairs and keeping up the lawn and gardening as well as woodworking and reading educational how-to materials. In fact, he only had one bill when he died for book he had ordered about fishing. And he always paid his bills on time. Gene and Lillie worked hard and raised four children, Gerald, Gary, David, and Nancy.
They moved a lot to some people, 16 times in Lagrange. But they felt it was always to a good neighborhood and better schools. He was loving and dutiful to his family. In LaGrange, where he was a linotype operator for the LaGrange Daily News, his job was to set the type for the newspaper. That means using a machine that required melting lead to form letters that he put together. He spaced them properly for a roller that inked it and pressed a sheet of newsprint paper over it to make the newspaper. It was a massive, awesome machine and he knew every piece part of it. He could take it apart and put it back together.
Many times he would get calls to please come fix other newspaper’s linotype machines. The newspaper was sold and he had to move on; this time to East Point where he worked as long as the old linotype technology lasted. It became obsolete and so did his job. His mechanical know-how came into use at his new position in the engineering department of the South Fulton Hospital. He gained experience there until he and Lillie moved to Newnan, planning to retire, where he continued working at Newnan Hospital. His beloved Lillie died shortly before his retirement. Gene met Jan Carter at Newnan Hospital. She was working in the accounting office when her husband of 38 years passed away.
They soon became friends and liked to go square dancing together. A year or two later, they retired and went back to the Newnan Hospital Chapel and got married. This began their life together as happy seniors. They continued square dancing until his hearing got bad and he couldn’t hear the square dance calls. He and Jan went on trips to Europe, all over the continental US and on a cruise to Alaska to see a glacier. Their trip through the Panama Canal was one of their favorites. They went to Senior Hostels, something where seniors go to a host college and they spend a few days learning about some subject in which they’re interested. They learned all about the Creek Indians one time.
His woodworking skills blossomed also after he retired. He began playing and making dulcimers. Very nice ones too. He started the CWC, Coweta Woodworkers Club, where he and other woodworkers would meet monthly and discuss their projects and techniques and hear invited speakers. Gene was a veteran of WWII and enjoyed the comradeship of local Veteran’s Day events. He broke his back during training so never had to endure the tragedy of the battle overseas. A blessing that is not lost on his family, who is grateful to have had him. Gene was also a member of the Newnan First Baptist Church. Mr. Cauthen was preceded in death by his first wife, Lillie Mae Cauthen and grandson, Britton Eugene Cauthen, and sister Elaine Rider Cauthen.
He is survived by his wife, Jan Carter Cauthen; sons, Gerald and wife Hedy Cauthen, Gary and wife Marie Cauthen and David D. Cauthen; daughter, Nancy C. Cauthen; brother, Melvin and wife Ruth Cauthen; step-sons, Larry and wife Debbie Carter and Tony and wife Cheryl Carter and ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
