Laura Cato

Laura Jean Cato, 68, of Willow Springs, Mo., died Wednesday, June 25, 2003, at St. John's Regional Health Center in Springfield, Mo.

She was born March 25, 1935, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Lloyd F. and Annie May Temple Williams. She and David Cato were married April 12, 1958.

Mrs. Cato was a graduate of DePaul Hospital School of Nursing in St. Louis, received a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, and a master's degree from Northern University in DeKalb, Ill.

She was appointed by a governor of Illinois to the Illinois State Board of Nursing, and served on the National Nursing Accreditation Board. She was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and its Council of Catholic Women, and a former president of Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary, all in Willow Springs.

Mrs. Cato had been a registered nurse and nursing supervisor at Silver Cross Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet, Ill., and retired as a nursing instructor from Joliet Junior College.

Survivors include her husband; three brothers, Lloyd F. Williams of Cape Girardeau, Paul S. Williams of Atlanta, Ga., Joseph G. Williams of Kansas City, Mo.; three sisters, Elsie Williams of Cape Girardeau, Gladys E. Young of Memphis, Tenn., Mary Lacey of Cape Girardeau; an aunt, Thelma Fielders of Hammond, Ind.; and a cousin, Geneva James of Massachusetts.

Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel, with the Rev. Scott Sunnenberg officiating. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Chuck Pharis, Oscar Bell, Ralph McKenzie, Lester Miller, Edgar Mayham, Mike Gordy and Stanley Boyd.

Memorials may be made to National Kidney Foundation, 1423 Hanley Industrial Ct., St. Louis, Mo. 63144.