Cara Aileen MacDougall Obituary (1972

Cara A. MacDougall was born to William Newton and Karen (Reeve). She was survived by her older brother, also William Newton, and three kids Jake (18), Jordan (23), and Liz (25), and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. After a 13 month battle with leukemia, Cara passed away peacefully in her father's house in Seabeck, WA. Cara grew up in Bremerton, WA, and attended Olympic High School. She was a rowdy girl, and loved basketball, horse riding, 80s music, and the Seattle Seahawks. She always fought for what she believed in, and would end up dropping out of high school to love and support her newborn daughter, Liz Newton. Cara would then go through two marriages in her life, one with Bill Shelby, and another with Casey MacDougall. She would birth Jordan Shelby and Jake MacDougall. Her and Bill's marriage lasted only two years and didn't leave Washington. With Casey, however, it was a different story. They were together for twelve years, and moved around a lot due to Casey's naval stationings. They would eventually settle in Norwich, Connecticut. Unfortunately, their marriage would dissolve, and Cara would fight hard to maintain the lifestyle that they had started. She worked at Timberland for fifteen years where she'd finally worked her way up to the manager position, before transitioning to several other stores. She would eventually transfer over to Brooks Brothers. The future looked bright, as Brooks Brothers treated their employees better than previous companies she worked for. After all three of her kids had grown up, Cara finally began putting herself first. She wanted to better her life, and to live stress free. She'd meet Bill Maerkle and his son Colt. They were together for almost four years. She loved Colt as her own, and her and Bill would have a lot of fun doing the things they both enjoyed, such as football and being outdoors. However, that ended after a shocking diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. She was only forty two years old, and her youngest kid was two months away from graduating high school. At first, her positivity and optimism made her battle look like a walk in the park. It didn't seem like she had a life threatening disease. In fact, she always had a smile on her face, and people took notice. Everyone who met her knew they were in the presence of someone special. She never gave up, and she always asked the doctors "what next?" After several rounds of chemo and a bone marrow transplant, nothing showed promise as the disease just kept reemerging. After Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston had given up, she had to make the trip from Connecticut to Washington to be with the rest of her family, and to keep exploring options. A couple of months of further treatment didn't lead to a cure, and unfortunately her body couldn't handle all of the treatment. She knew her time had come, and had stopped taking her medication. She passed away on the night of May 23rd at 11:25PM. Her stepmother, Rosanne Newton, was with her at the time of death. She died peacefully after saying a prayer. Her life has taught us all many lessons and we've all grown together as a family. She had a full and dynamic life. She was noble and always stayed true to her morals. She was stubborn as the dickens but that was her strong point. She touched everyone she met and she definitely left her mark. Rest in peace Reverend Cara A. MacDougall. Arrangements entrusted to Lewis Chapel.