Ethel Townsend Cecka

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Ethel Townsend Cecka, 95, passed away November 16 at her home in Saratoga Springs.
Ethel (neé Lillian Ethel Townsend) was born August 12, 1918, in Lebanon, New Hampshire to Hugh Townsend and Marie Kuhre Townsend. She was a graduate of Lebanon High School and Northampton Commercial College.
In 1945, she married Dr. Terry E. Lilly Jr. and resided in Mission Hills, Kansas, until 1971 when the family moved to Exeter, California and then to Corona del Mar, California.After a divorce, she married William J. Cecka in 1983 and in 1995 she moved to Saratoga Springs.
Ethel worked for the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission and subsequently as an executive secretary at several professional corporations. She was also a homemaker.
Ethel was a member of the Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church.
Ethel is survived by her children, Donna B. Lilly (Gordon Mott) of Croton-on-Hudson and Queretaro, Mexico, and Reginald S. Lilly (Lyndell J. Falconer) of Saratoga Springs; and her grandchildren, Elizabeth M. Mott, Jordan L. Lilly and Owen H. Lilly. She is also survived by her second husband’s daughter, Marilyn Schultheis (Stephen) of Laguna Hills, California, as well as William’s five grandchildren, Brent, Matthew, Arianne, Grant and Lyndsey.
She is predeceased by her son, Terry E. Lilly III, and husband, William J. Cecka.
For their loving care, the family wishes to thank Tatiana Goriounova, Gloria Sutherland, Jonna Lamarco, Jeannine Jeter, Diane and Ray Henderson, Community Hospice of Saratoga, Home Health Care Partners, and Tri-State Care Alternatives.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made in Ethel's memory to Skidmore College’s Filene Music Scholarship Fund, Office of Advancement, 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. Online remembrances may be made at www.tunisonfuneralhome.com.