Cathy Ann Poe

LEXINGTON - Funeral services for Cathy A. Schmidt Poe, 46 of Lexington, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, October 29, 2016 at Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel with visitation following the service at the funeral home.

Cathy was born May 9, 1970 in Islip, NY and passed away unexpectedly Tuesday, October 25, 2016. She was the daughter of Walter H. Schmidt, Jr. and Anne Schmidt of NY.

Surviving are her husband, Dale Poe; daughter, Kayla and son, Kyle; sisters, Cyndi (John) Asch of TX, Carol (Rich) Downey of NY, Casey (Mike) Cousins of NY, Maggie (Ryan) Lampasona of FL; brother, John (Lisa) Schmidt of NY and 15 loving nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by brother, Chip Schmidt.

Cathy earned a hotel management degree at the State University of NY Delhi and a BS degree in Restaurant and Tourism at the University of South Carolina, where she instantly became a diehard Gamecock fan.

Her teaching career began at Lexington Elementary. She later earned her Master’s in Elementary Education at Phoenix University. She went on to touch many young lives at Lake Murray Elementary and, most recently, teaching fifth grade at Rocky Creek Elementary. The kids she taught were everything in the world to her. Just within the past few months, Cathy was awarded a “Reading for Life” grant through the “Donors Choose” program. She developed this “classroom library” idea with a goal to have a book personally placed in the hand of each child. In a short period of time she received two grants, of which one was anonymously funded.

To honor Cathy and her program, a memorial in Cathy’s name has been established at the Rocky Creek Elementary School Library. The family asks in lieu of flowers to make a donation to the “Reading for Life” program, c/o RCE PTA, 430 Caulks Ferry Rd., Lexington, SC 29072.

Cathy was a loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, teacher and friend and will be sorely missed by all. She was the biggest cheerleader at Kyle’s sporting events, and for Kayla as she attended 3 ½ years at Governors School. She was an avid lover of all the Gamecocks sports and professional teams of the NY Giants and the Yankees.