Mercara (Madikeri), Coorg (Kodagu) / Roseville, MN, U.S.A :
Celine Rita Stanton peacefully passed away on February 27, 2025, in Roseville, MN after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Celine was born at home on November 3, 1940, to her parents Thomas & Caroline D’Souza. She was born in a small village in the state of Karnataka in Southwest India in what was then still British India. Her family were coffee plantation owners and Anglo-Indians (with British & Indian roots). She was the 5th of 10 children. Celine grew up in an amazingly loving and close family. Celine was passionate about sharing her love of God, starting at an early age within her family in India. She would continue to lean into her faith throughout her life.
Her parents also helped raise her mother’s four half-siblings when their mother died. Celine’s parents were known for always helping the poor and those around them. Something that Celine would continue in her life in the US. Celine attended primary school in Mercara, Coorg District, State of Karnataka and attended boarding school in Mysore where she graduated high school from Good Shephard Convent in 1958. She attended Mt. Carmel College in Bangalore from 1958-1961 and finished her B.A. degree in History and English at St. Philomena college, Mysore. While there she played basketball and field hockey for the college at the state level. She taught English in Bellary, Karnataka at Good Shepherd Convent from 1963-1964. She taught at Cluny Convent in Bangalore from 1964-1965 and finished her teaching experience in India in Ooty, Tamil Nadu State from 1966-1967. She finished getting her teaching degree from University of Mysore in 1967. Her students described her as, “a well-loved popular teacher who wowed her students with her skills in Basketball. We loved her to bits! She was an ace in basketball and represented the state.”
In 1967 Celine met her future husband Dale, while he was serving in the US Peace Corps from 1966-1968. Her eldest sibling Vincent had brought Dale and other Peace Corps Volunteers to their family coffee estate in Coorg for a weekend. They married June 22, 1968, in Mercara, India. Celine immigrated to the US with Dale, and they made a life together that would take them all over the US with Dale’s career for Goodwill Industries, raising their kids. They lived in Los Angeles, CA; Lyle, MN (where daughter Heidi was born across state lines in Iowa in 1969); Moose Lake, MN (where she gave birth to son Heath in Duluth, MN; Milwaukee, WI; Racine, WI; Yakima, WA; Stockton, CA; Detroit, MI; Bloomfield Hills; MI, Albuquerque, NM; Austin, MN and Roseville, MN. Dale & Celine would spend many summers in Northern MN & WI on lakes as the kids were growing up.
In addition to being a loving mother and wife, Celine worked as bank teller for Peoples Bank (Yakima, WA), Bank or America (Stockton, CA) and US Bank (Austin, MN). Celine was always the favorite teller, and customers would wait longer to have Celine help them! She would often win awards for the most sales (including a trip to Hawaii.
She was loved for her kind and helpful nature. Kind and helpful are just two of a thousand different words that could be used to describe Celine. Humble, resilient, strong, silly, prayerful, college basketball star, expert gardener (it was said you could drop Celine in the middle of Africa and within minutes she’d know what to plant), creative chef, fickle, caregiver, community volunteer, and food connoisseur. Celine’s sisters said she was fastidious growing up in India. She took great care of her family; she was very particular that her saris always being pressed and cared for. She loved having pen pals from around the world. She loved shopping (making many trips with daughter Heidi to SF and Carmel, CA) and bringing gifts to bring her family in India. She developed a great love for Mexican food and gardening upon moving to California. In her Minnesota retirement days, she became an expert garage sale hostess (and shopper). She looked forward to her weekly Friday lunches with her son Heath, choosing from her favorite spots (Applebee’s, Chinese food or Olive Garden) before watching an episode of Criminal Minds. Celine loved to travel and enjoyed going to Lake Vermillion with her son Heath and family, and making lots of trips to Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles to visit Heidi & family. Another love was cooking, collecting recipes, and playing games (especially Five Hundred) with her husband, in-laws, aunts & uncles in her husband Dale’s final years. She always found time to help Stephanie in her garden and joke with David.
Celine spent 15 years caring for her husband Dale when he was diagnosed with a rare blood disease and cancer. She gave him the ultimate gift when she gave him one of her kidneys in 2003. Ultimately, Celine’s greatest joy in her retirement years were her grandchildren. The joy, love, education, and humor she gave them was a lingering trait from her years as mother to Heidi & Heath. She would not hesitate to pick up her grandson Ely from school (with a stop at the gas station for snacks). She loved attending Ely’s soccer games in MN, Stephen’s baseball games and Caroline’s horse shows in GA. Even in her end-stages of Alzheimer’s she was thrilled to meet her great-granddaughter Zahara. Celine cherished family. She was the only sibling to ever leave India. She cherished her trips home. She was lovingly welcomed by her large extended American family whom she would forever love. To say we are all grateful that she was our mother, wife, nana, sister, aunty, cousin, and friend is an understatement.
Celine was preceded in death by her parents Thomas & Caroline D’Souza, her siblings in India Vincent, Martin, Stephen, Lionel & Theresa, her in-laws Don & Olga Stanton (Austin, MN), several brothers and sisters-in-law, her niece Monisha (India) and beloved cat Tito. She is survived by her daughter Heidi (David), Johns Creek, GA; son Heath, Roseville, MN; daughter-in-law Stephanie Stanton, St. Paul, MN; her grandchildren Stephen, Johns Creek, GA; Caroline, Columbia, SC; Ely, St. Paul, MN; her great-granddaughter Zahara (Johns Creek, GA); sister-in-law Sharon (Ron), Yakima, WA; sisters in Mysore, India – Tiny Ganapathy (Suresh); Lovey Platel (Phillip); Sheela Mathew (Babu); and many nieces and nephews in the US, India, UAE, Oman and Australia.
Our family is forever grateful to the residents & care staff at Good Samaritan Roseville, New Perspective Roseville, MN and Health Partners Hospice for their amazing care, love and support to our family these past 5 years. A celebration of life will be planned for a later date this year. Memorial gifts may be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation and Guild Services, her son’s favorite non-profit in St. Paul, MN (www.guildservices.org).
Sympathies & Memories can be sent to Heidi Riechel, 11110 Linbrook Lane, Johns Creek, GA 30097 and Heath Stanton 320 Minnesota Ave, Roseville, MN 55113
source: http://www.legacy.com / Legacy / Home> US> Obituary / post by Legacy Remembers / February 28th, 2025
