Coles Cathcart Jackson

The following obituary is being posted as a courtesy to the family of Coles Cathcart Jackson. Dunbar Funeral Home (Devine) is serving the Jackson family. Kiser Funeral Home offers our sincere condolences to the Jackson Family.

Coles Cathcart Jackson, the former Coles Heyward Cathcart, widow of Charles Reid Jackson, Sr., died peacefully at Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community in West Columbia, SC on November 7th, 2024. Born in Columbia, SC on February 22, 1937, she was the daughter of Sallie Coles Heyward and Charles Dwight Cathcart. She attended Columbia area schools and graduated early from Dreher High School, from Saint Mary’s Junior College in Raleigh, NC, and from the University of South Carolina, receiving a BA and MA in English Literature. Growing up in Columbia, Coles enjoyed very close friendships among her large family and many friends. She loved academics and excelled in her studies, and she was a devoted leader in church and community activities. She had a varied teaching career on the university, community college, and high school levels. She served on the South Carolina Commission for the Humanities and on the Board of Northeastern Technical College in Cheraw, SC. She was a member of the Omicron chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma, the national honorary teaching society. Coles studied for a year in London at Christie’s Education, concentrating in fine and decorative art since the Renaissance with a focus on furniture and ceramics. Afterwards, she started her own antiques business, shopping for clients in England, France and Italy.

After her marriage at Trinity Episcopal Church in 1960, she moved with Mr. Jackson to Cheraw, SC, where she lived for 56 years. She was a member of Saint David’s Episcopal Church and president of the Women of the Church. Coles was past president of the Old Cheraw’s Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was active in civic affairs, especially while her husband was mayor.

A highlight for Coles during these years was her friendship with Mr. Dizzy Gillespie, a native son of Cheraw, who visited the Jackson home on several occasions.

Coles was a member of the Junior League of Columbia, The Assembly, The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of South Carolina, and the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.

Coles spent a large part of her life in Little Switzerland, NC, where her family were some of the original summer residents. Her great-aunt founded the first girls’ camp in Western North Carolina in 1912. Coles had many experiences at this camp, at Camp Kanuga and others, both as a camper and counselor. This time nurtured her life long love with Little Switzerland, its setting in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and with its people. Coles was very active in various church and community endeavors, serving as president of the Little Switzerland Community Association, and serving on the vestry, the altar guild, and lay reading at the Church of the Resurrection, Little Switzerland. Coles’ specialty was providing and arranging altar flowers for church services and weddings, where she picked her own flowers from her garden, delighting family and friends with her beautiful, natural creations. Coles served on the Board of the Blue Ridge Parkway for ten years, during a time of special attention to protect its scenic views from development encroachment.

The beauty and stillness of the mountain environment in Little Switzerland inspired Coles to design and build a vegetable and flower garden there. She was a tireless and passionate gardener, reading and studying voraciously on many gardening subjects, collecting conifers, dahlias, hydrangeas, clematis, roses, and other flowers that delighted her, and which she shared with friends. Coles’ hard work in the garden instilled in her children and grandchildren a love of nature and their responsibility to protect and preserve it.

Coles’ travels and gardening also inspired her delicious cuisine. She was a phenomenal cook, and her breathtaking cakes were beautifully decorated with flowers and herbs from her garden.

Coles is survived by her three children, Coles Heyward Jackson Lawton and her husband, Dr. Joseph James Lawton III of Columbia, SC, Charles Reid Jackson, Jr. and his wife, Ann Gracyn Streater Jackson of Cheraw, SC, Alice Dean Jackson Fort and her husband, George Hamlet Tatum Fort, Sr., of Little Switzerland, NC. She is survived by eight beloved grandchildren, Coles Heyward Lawton Frazier, Louisa DuBose Dwight Lawton, Joseph James Lawton IV, Charles Reid Jackson III, Campbell Heyward Jackson, George Hamlet Tatum Fort, Jr., Alice Findley Dean Fort, and Sarah Boykin Heyward Fort. Coles is also survived by her great-granddaughter, Marigold Jayne Jackson.

Coles is survived by her two brothers, Charles Dwight Cathcart, Jr., of Boston, MA and Edmund Heyward Cathcart, Sr., of Charleston, SC. Coles is also survived by her sisters-in-law, Jane Jackson Avinger of Davidson, NC and Amy Generelly Jackson, of Pawley’s Island, SC and nine nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends on Monday evening, November 18th from 5pm until 7pm at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Lawton, 143 Saluda Avenue, Columbia, SC. A memorial service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral on Tuesday, November 19th, 2024 at 2pm in Columbia, SC. The Very Rev. Dane Boston will officiate the service. The Committal will take place at Old Saint David’s Cemetery in Cheraw, SC on Wednesday, November 20th, 2024 at 2pm. The Rev. Cannon Jimmy Hartley of Trinity Cathedral will officiate this service.

The family wishes to thank the nurses and staff of Still Hopes who took care of Coles.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Resident Assistance Fund, Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community, PO Box 2959, West Columbia, SC 29171.