James Dance Cawthon

James Dance

Cawthon

SHREVEPORT, LA - Memorial services for James Dance Cawthon, 95, of Shreveport, will be Wednesday, February 23, 2011, at 2:00 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, with the Revs. Bryan McDowell and Pendleton Peery, officiating.

He is survived by his wife Juanita Davis Cawthon and son Richard James Cawthon; two nieces Elisabeth Cawthon and Marilyn Mayfield and several great nieces and great-nephews. He was preceded in death by one son, John Robert Cawthon; brother, Dr. John Ardis Cawthon; and two sisters, Annis Cawthon, and Lee Cawthon McIntyre.

Mr. Cawthon was born July 16, 1915 at Koran, Bossier Parish, the son of the late James Alexander and Maggie Mae Dance Cawthon. He earned a degree in Commerce from Louisiana Tech University. He began his career teaching at Springhill High School and later was a bookkeeper with Frost Lumber Industries. He moved to Shreveport in 1939, and soon began his 36-year career in the accounting department of the United Gas Company and the Pennzoil Company, retiring in 1975 as Manager of the Plant Accounting Department of Pennzoil Producing Company.

He then served as a Business Administrator for First Presbyterian Church in Shreveport, for 10 years. He was a Fellow in church business administration, having been certified by the Presbyterian Church Business Administrators Association, and was an Emeritus member of the National Church Business Administrators Association. He was an Emeritus Life Associate and past president of the Shreveport Chapter of the National Association of Accountants. An ordained Deacon and Elder Emeritus of First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, he was a former president of the Red River Presbytery Laymen's Association, and had served in many capacities of church leadership.

Cawthon, an accomplished artist, was a past president of the Shreveport Art Club and charter member and a past president of the Men's Art Guild. He was also a member of the North Louisiana Historical Society, which published some of his articles.

Memorials may be made to the John R. Cawthon Scholarship Fund, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 100 East 27th Street, Austin, TX 78705-5797, or First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, LA.