Esmee Flack Cuthbertson

1904 - 2007

NATCHEZ — Memorial services for Esmee Flack Cuthbertson, 102, of Natchez, who died Wednesday, June 20, 2007, will be 11 a.m. Monday at Trinity Episcopal Church with the Revs. Brandt A. Dick and Samuel A. Tomlinson III officiating.

Burial will follow at the Natchez National Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until service time Monday at the church.

Mrs. Cuthbertson was born Dec. 18, 1904, in Broadstairs, Kent, England, the daughter of Thomas and Hannah Cockeran Flack. She came to America in 1915 with her father, three brothers and a sister to reside in Chicago. Esmee’ attended the University of Chicago High School and the University of Wisconsin. She was married to William Cuthbertson, of Chicago, in 1928. In 1934, she and her husband moved with their two sons to Glen Plantation at Frogmore for a rural life of farming and an outdoor life rich with challenges from the Great Depression. This life of challenge left this family with a sense of self-reliance and a community spirit of cooperation and togetherness. Life on the plantation was simple, healthy and free of confusion from modern television and convoluted political correctness. A person’s word was given on a “handshake” and a man’s word was his bond. Hard work, diligence, honesty and straight forwardness was a hallmark of the life of Esmee’ Cuthbertson. Esmee’ was a charter member of the Pilgrimage Garden Club; she belonged to the Natchez Little Theater, the Musical Arts League, Trinity Episcopal Church, and the Joseph Kuehnle Guild.

Her husband, Bill, preceded her in death in 1974.

Survivors include her sons, William Hugh Cuthbertson and his wife, Millett, and David Flack Cuthbertson and his wife, Gail; granddaughter, Biron Marie Cuthbertson Wood and her husband, Stanley; grandsons, William Cuthbertson II and Andrew Armour Cuthbertson; and great-grandson, Stanley Coats Wood Jr.

Esmee’ is also survived by three nephews that she and husband “Big-Pa” raised on the Plantation since their parents’ death in 1948, Gregory Zettler and his wife, Cheryl, Roger Zettler and his wife, Billie Kurtz, and Peter Zettler and his wife, Pam; nieces, Joyce Flack Huber and Theresa Flack Miller and her husband, Daniel; nephew, Tommy Flack and his wife, Pamela; and many grandnephews and grand-nieces.

Honorary pallbearers will be Roger Zettler Jr., Audley Case, James Bragg, Howard Biegler Jr., Clinton Davis, and Stanley Wood.