Cecilia A. Unangst

October 22, 1946 - July 7, 2016

COLEBROOK, NH — Cecilia Ann Unangst - “Ceal” (Nee: Robson), 69, after a harsh two-and-a-half year struggle with cancer, passed away peacefully in East Colebrook on Thursday, July 7, 2016. She was with her family in the home she helped build. She was born Oct. 22,1946, in Spring Field Gardens, NY, the daughter of Joseph Robert Robson and Agnes Mary Robson (Nee: Treloar). She lived the early part of her life in Bergenfield, NJ, where she attended Ascension School in New Milford. From there she attended Immaculate Conception in Lodi, NJ. Her family then moved to Smithtown, NY, where she completed high school at Smithtown High School in 1964. After completing high school she attended Dowling College and Blake Business School. After graduating from business school, she went to work at Instrument Systems Corporation in Huntington, NY, as an office secretary. On Dec. 23,1969, she married Robert W. Unangst Jr., a returning Vietnam veteran, in Roanoke, Va., while he was completing a college degree. For the next two years she worked as an office secretary for Windshield Glass in Roanoke. She and her husband then returned to Long Island, NY, where they began raising their family. At that time, she worked as an attendance secretary at Finley Junior High School in Huntington, where she and her family lived. Between 1984 and 1985 she and her family moved to Colebrook where her husband began his science teaching career at Colebrook Academy. She became one of the original employees at the LaVerdiere’s Drug Store when it opened its doors in 1987. She was later promoted to assistant manager about the time the store transitioned to Rite Aid. Despite several offers to be store manager, she chose to remain as an assistant manager. In 2004 she left Rite Aid to join the staff at Colebrook Academy. Although the position at the Academy was her last, it was her “dream job.” When it came to interacting and working with the kids at CA, she was “The Natural.” Whether it was working at Rite Aid, as Ceal, or whether it was working at CA as “Mrs. U,” she had a personality and a smile that lit up any room. She had an honesty, an integrity, a work ethic, and an insight tempered by compassion that earned her the respect of customers, students, and other friends. She had the gift to quickly turn a student’s bad day into a good day, and the culinary talent to make teachers entering the Academy in the morning to first look into the office to see what gastronomic treats might be there for them that day. She is survived by her husband of 47 years, Robert, “Skip” of Colebrook; her son David and his wife, Cindy, of Ashland, NH; her daughter, Suzanne, and her husband, Bruce MacDonald, of Gorham, NH; her son Daniel of Littleton, NH; her granddaughter, Summer, and her grandson-to-be of Ashland, NH; her grandsons Benjamin and Nicholas, and granddaughter Hannah from Gorham, NH; her sister Susan and her husband William Hersh, and nephew, Jon, of Athol, Mass,; her brother, Thomas Robson, of Whitefield, NH: her sister-in-law, Anne Unangst and family from Montpelier, Vt.; her sister-in-law, Peg Mariani and family, from Wilder, Vt.; her sister-in-law, Mary Charlton, and family from Old Lyme, Conn. Calling hours will be on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home in Colebrook. A graveside service will be held the next morning, July 13, at 11 a.m. in the Colebrook Village Cemetery. Expressions of sympathy in memory of Ceal may be made to the American Cancer Society, for the express purposes of colonoscopy screening and education, P.O. Box 22478, Oklahoma City, OK 73123. Condolences may be offered to the family on-line by going to www.jenkinsnewman.com. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home, Colebrook, NH.