THELMA RAINS MCCAIN
NOVEMBER 20, 1940 – MARCH 5, 2017
March 9, 2017
On this beautiful Cedar Key day, with cloudless blue skies above and Carolina wrens and cardinals singling full throatedly from the trees, Thelma McCain’s family and her community gathered at the Cedar Key Cemetery at 11 am to honor her presence in their lives.
Greeting the 300 people as they entered the cemetery were two Central Florida Electrical Cooperative service trucks with booms raised hoisting a huge American flag while it wafted in the morning breeze.
At precisely 11 am, Christ Episcopal Church’s Reverend Jim Wright invited the crowd to “Gather around” as he began the service. The hymn, “God of the Mountain,” was sung by the Christ Episcopal Church Choir. Cedar Key First Baptist Church Pastor Todd Pope spoke briefly about Thelma McCain reminiscing how thoughtful and caring she was about him and others.
Eileen Senecal, invited by Wright to speak for the community, spoke about Thelma not only being the matriarch of her family, but of Cedar Key as well, because of her leadership in so very many activities which included: providing clothing for Cedar Key School students, her decades-long tour with the Cedar Key Water and Sewer District, her Central Florida Electrical Cooperative Board membership, her pie making skills, and so much more. Senecal ended with, “She will be missed but not forgotten.”
The choir and the attendees sang “What a Day that Will Be” and “Glorify Thy Name.” Reverend Wright closed by reminding all of the words on the inscribed stone marking Thelma’s grave, “Like a Rock.”
The Chiefland viewing was full to overflowing last evening as was the Community Center where family and community gathered after the graveside funeral today.
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