Emily Zahradnik Cates

December 13, 1957 - October 18, 2021

"For as by one man's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience (Jesus Christ) many will be made righteous."
Romans 5:19 NKJV

Portland--It is with great sadness the Cates family announces the passing of Emily Zahradnik Cates into the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ on October 18, 2021 from cardiac arrest after a decade of battling renal failure, and almost a lifetime with Type 1 Diabetes.

Emily was born December 13, 1956 in Northampton, MA to Miriam (Johnson) and John Walter Zahradnik of Pelham, MA. She was the third child of her parents, and arrived with her twin brother, Paul. Her parents eventually filled every floor and corner of their historic farmhouse with five boys and Emily. It was soon discovered Emily and Paul (her "womb-mate" as she lovingly called him), were both very gifted artists. Their abilities showed up early, and their parents gave Emily & Paul an easel in their bedroom that used first thing in the morning. Emily's artistic abilities were recognized in school and locally where she won art contests. As she grew, she pondered someday going to art school.

Emily's maiden name, Zahradnik, means "gardiner"; Emily's penchant for gardening and raising animals was nurtured at the old, hauntingly beautiful farm her parents had purchased on Harkness Road in Amherst, MA. She grew up riding Morgan horses and seeing her mother deliver milk & eggs locally. Around her middle school years, tragically, Emily was diagnosed with childhood onset Diabetes. She traveled to Boston with her mother and was taught how to test her blood sugar levels and give herself insulin shots, but later admitted it was years before she became diligent in managing blood sugar levels. This surely made her more fragile, yet Emily bravely enjoyed her childhood and brushed aside limits as best she could. It's likely her health limits gave Emily a sense of the brevity of life and caused her to seek God in a deeper way than most children. Her mother found it remarkable when one day Emily brought home the Ten Commandments and hung them on her bedroom wall, when she hadn't yet been taught much about them! She was a conservative girl in school and wasn't drawn toward the wrong crowd.
Many summers, Emily's father, John, flew his children in a small Cessna plane, to a camp on China Lake in Maine. There, years later, Emily met her husband, Stephen Clark Cates of Vassalboro.

Emily left Massachusetts to attend high school at Oak Grove Coburn in Vassalboro, Maine. Emily's senior year, 1974, marked one of the most blessed years of her life. God seemed to accelerate great change--she married Stephen Clark Cates of Vassalboro, ME on February 9th, bore her first child, Charlotte, graduated from Oak Grove Coburn School, and her horse, Annie, surprised her with a colt! Emily and Stephen moved in with his parents, Herbert and Coralene Cates of Vassalboro, where Coralene lovingly taught Emily how to care for her new baby. Her father in law, Herbert, often walked the hallways at night with baby Charlotte (often colicky) so Emily could sleep. Herbert was a skilled contractor, and he and his crew helped Stephen build a small brown cape on a hill in South China, where Emily and Stephen have happily lived for 47 years. They moved in on Christmas Eve, 1974-capping off a monumental year!

In 1974 Emily also had the best realization of her life--that she was a daughter of the Most High God! She trusted her life to the Lord Jesus Christ, under the loving preaching of their Pastor, Wilson Hickham, at Calvary Temple in Waterville.
Emily was baptized in China Lake, the same lake she'd attended summer camps as a girl, the same lake where she'd met Stephen.

As the grass began to grow on their new lawn, Emily's little family grew. Abraham, their beloved son, was born in 1975, making Emily a mother of two at age 18! And Emily began to grow up with her family. Her children remember how Stephen patiently helped Emily when the young mother became frustrated. She learned to lovingly apologize to her children, and God healed hurt feelings. As she grew, the grace and peace in their little home increased exponentially. Emily learned the importance of forgiveness and reached out to her family with an open heart. Her children saw her learn to trust and submit to her husband, showing him forgiveness and patience.

Always a natural teacher, Emily taught her two children how to swim in China Lake. Summers would see Emily often horseback riding through the woods with her children, her nieces, or riding students down to China Lake where they would swim the horses. Winters, Emily would cross country ski with her family a 45 minute loop through the woods down to the lake and back to what she called her "chocolate drop" house, nestled in snow banks.

Emily loved painting, drawing, Calligraphy, gardening, sewing, horseback riding and
baking incredible whole wheat bread. (Her bread won awards at Windsor Fair.)
Her name means industrious or "diligent"--Emily lived up to her name her entire life, even when, near the end, she felt so unwell all she could do was sit and wrap her homemade soaps.

Emily was thrifty and resourceful--which was a great help to the struggling young family. She bartered her artwork for riding lessons, with Charlotte's riding instructor, Sandy Porter Bean. Emily got to fulfill her childhood dream of riding and showing horses with Charlotte. Watching years of her daughter's riding lessons helped Emily hone her own riding
skills; she enjoyed teaching her nieces & nephews how to ride and eventually had many other riding students. Emily was a prolific artist, painting and drawing exquisite portraits and still lifes for family and friends and the church too. She dabbled in stained glass and many other artistic endeavors, many of which grace the walls and windows of her home. She taught art lessons to Temple Academy students in Waterville and to local homeschooled children. She homeschooled her own children and a few others who came and stayed at the Cates home. Emily helped both Charlotte and Abraham to apply to and attend college, although she herself never had that opportunity. Emily never regretted giving up art school to have her children earlier in life. God knew she would need those extra years with her family.

Emily cherished her nieces, nephews and grandchildren. One of her grandsons, Macauley, was born on Emily's Birthday, and she was so blessed to have him and his siblings live in her house for a few years.

Emily's health began to wane in her last decade. She was diagnosed with stage four kidney failure, which initially was hard to believe--she looked so healthy and lived so carefully. She and Stephen continued to garden together and care for the farm, though now just smaller animals--bunnies, chickens and ducks. When she went to dialysis, Emily made friends with the nurses, encouraging them, bringing little gifts of homemade soap, trying to share
God's love.

Her final days in a Portland hospital, Emily was her usual cheerful self, thankful for the nurses and doctors, never complaining...after her passing, a small nurse returned to the room to tell Stephen she'd never forget how kind and loving Emily was--a one in a million patient. After a dismal diagnosis about her heart, God took Emily quickly. Her healthy, youthful face and especially her cheerful brave heart gave no indication of how close to death she was. She will be sorely missed until we can be with her again in Heaven.

Emily yielded her life to the God of love, as a vulnerable fragile teen, and God gave her a beautiful life and did a priceless work of grace in her heart.
We have been eternally touched & changed by God's goodness to us through her.

"For as by one man's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience (Jesus Christ) many will be made righteous."
Romans 5:19 NKJV

Emily is survived by her devoted husband Stephen Clark Cates of South China, ME and her beloved daughter Charlotte and husband Joel Haynes of Loveland, OH, and their children Josiah, Rachel, and Emily; and by her beloved son Abraham and his wife Kerri (Varrecchione) of Cornville, ME, and their children Matthew, Jocelyn, Carlisle, Allie and Macauley (Emily's Birthday buddy).

Emily is also survived by her beloved Mother Miriam (Johnson) of Pelham, MA, and is preceded by her father John Walter Zahradnik. She is survived by her oldest brother, John Philip of Pelham, MA and his wife Lorena (Cunningham); her second oldest brother, Carl Joseph Zahradnik of Lawrenceburg, IN and his wife Nancy (Chittum); her twin brother Paul Andrew Zahradnik of Pelham, MA; and by her youngest brother Benjamin Johnson Zahradnik of Wendell, MA; and her 2 half sisters Max Zahradnik (formerly Lydia) of Vancouver,
BC, Canada;
and Marie Helen Zahradnik of Seattle, WA; and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.

Emily is preceded by her younger brother Erik Arnold Zahradnik.

A memorial service celebrating Emily's life will take place on Friday, October 22, at 12 noon at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, 2539 Riverside Drive (Hwy 201), Vassalboro, Maine (www.ccfmaine.com/visit-us)

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Emily's memory may be made to the
"Emily Cates Memorial Fund" of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in care of: Mr. Dana Watson, P.O. Box 645, So. China, ME 04358.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of Gallant Funeral Home.