Obituary of Ann Kathryn Cheatham
Ann Kathryn Cheatham was born into a loving home on August 29, 1969 in Palatine, Illinois. She was the ninth child of John and Felicitas Cyboran. Ann’s childhood was filled with life and love along with her three brothers and eight sisters.
When Ann was fourteen, she met a boy named Mike. Mike would go out of his way to walk her home from school (having to walk another mile after leaving Ann’s house). Mike tried subtly many times to have Ann invite him into her home; however, Ann never invited Mike in as she was very shy and did not want the attention from her other siblings.
However, those walks home from school eventually became something more. Mike and Ann started dating in their junior year of high school on November 19, 1985 (37 years ago) and have been together ever since. They were happily married on July 12, 1991. Mike, freshly out of college, took a job in Nashville, Tennessee where the couple welcomed their daughter, Alexandra (30). A series of moves throughout the country followed as Mike and Ann began their family. Each move was accompanied by at least one new, cherished addition to the family. Molly (28) was born in Iowa, Michael (25) in Illinois, Jonathan (23) and Anna (20) in North Carolina, Celine (18) and Anthony (14) in Illinois.
Mike and Ann eventually moved and settled in Houston, Texas. There, they welcomed the final addition to their family – their little Texan, Cecilia (10).
Throughout all of these years of travel and raising a family, Ann, in a patient and saintly manner, battled a number of chronic illnesses. However, these never dampened her love and devotion to her family, and she patiently offered every bit of it up. She was known for her poise, gentleness, and unending generosity.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Ann’s life was not her husband or family, but her faith in God and His goodness. Ann had special devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux who practiced the idea that small acts of good, done with great love and dedicated to God, lead to great things. Ann embodied this idea, and it saturated her relationship with everyone she met – she truly treated everyone who crossed her path with love and patience.
Ann spent her life dedicated to her husband and her children. Her children are her greatest, most important legacy. It is a legacy that is just beginning, and it is a legacy that will take years to unfold as her young children and grandchildren grow into the men and women she and Mike raised and inspired them to be. Ann’s faith, hope and charity will live on through her children and grandchildren.
Ann is survived by her husband, her children and their families: Alexandra (husband Alexander and 4 children), Molly (husband John and their 3 children), Michael (wife Therese and 2 children), Jonathan (wife Julie and 1 child), Anna, Celine, Anthony, and Cecilia, her mother, Felicitas, and her eleven siblings Susan, Karen, Ellen, John, Sharon, Mary, Lisa, Steven, Janine, Michael, and Amy.
A Vigil for the Deceased and recitation of the Holy Rosary will be from 5:30 p.m. - 6:15 p.m., with a eulogy by Michael T. Cheatham at 6:15 p.m. followed by a Visitation with the family from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 2022 at the Church of the Annunciation, 1618 Texas Avenue, in Houston, Texas.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 8:00 a.m., Saturday, December 3, 2022 also at the Church of the Annunciation.
The Rite of Committal will follow at Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Dickinson, Texas.
