Michael P. Caton

Michael P. Caton, 1947 – 2025. Michael was proud to call himself a native Plymouthian. He spent his childhood in North Plymouth with his parents, Jessie Caton and Aurora (Roncarati) Caton, and his brother, Ron. Summers were spent at West Pond, where his family had a charming cottage on the water with a weeping willow and plentiful bass and bull frogs. He said he was the luckiest kid in the world there fishing, swimming, helping in the garden, and picking blueberries for his aunt Alba to bake into pies. Blueberry pies were his favorite.
Mike graduated from Plymouth Carver High School in 1966 and was an outstanding athlete, especially in varsity basketball, where he earned multiple college scholarship offers. He also played football and competed on two cross country teams-the Varsity "Fleeting Five" and The Blue Eagle Harriers-running with a weighted vest from his home in North Plymouth to the end of Long Beach and back and completing the Boston Marathon. He also enjoyed tennis, baseball, and softball. He was nicknamed Wing Ding by his classmates after his engaging performance when they participated in the taping of a dance television show with that name. He attended every reunion and cherished messages from friends.
Mike served as a Military Police Sergeant in the Air Force before joining the Plymouth Police, where he worked until his retirement in 2002. He was a member of the Cold Spring Club and the Plymouth Rod and Gun Club, and enjoyed hunting, fishing, and birdwatching. His favorite pastime was walking in the woods with his hunting dogs and maintaining habitats for local wildlife around his woodland yard.
He attended Cape Cod Community College and also studied photography. He had an impressive collection of slides and photographs. "Compose the picture," he told us. "Slow down and compose the picture."
Mike enjoyed collecting antiques and artifacts of American History, particularly from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Always an inner boy scout, he collected compasses and jack knives, fishing lures, and tools.
He and his older brother Ron shared a close bond. At Ron's camp in the Adirondacks, they loved sitting all night at the fire in front of the lean-to, reminiscing, watching the deer roam through the town, and listening to the river rushing by. Mike and Patti later bought their own vacation home in the same hamlet of Wanakena, where they created many wonderful family memories: block parties on the town green, walking the footbridge over the Oswegatchie River, fishing, boating, and swimming on Cranberry Lake, and hiking to Cat Mountain.
Mike is survived by his loving wife and partner of 47 years, Patti (Ferguson) Caton, their daughters, Kristen Rufo (and Adam Machado) and Karen Kay (and Rob Kay), and grandchildren, Grace and Danny Rufo, Robbie, Janinia and Noelle Kay, and Keri Machado (and Seth Broemmer), and great-grandchildren Alexis, Zoey and Quinn.
A period of visitation will take place on Monday, September 22, 2025, from 10 am to 12 pm at the Cartmell-Davis Life Celebration Funeral Home,373 Court Street, Plymouth. A memorial service will begin at 12 pm at the funeral home. Interment will immediately follow the services at Vine Hills Cemetery, Samoset Street, Plymouth.