Birth date: Oct 4, 1921 Death date: Jun 3, 2012
Cecile Frances Devenish Sauvigné Karlson October 4, 1921, Asheville, North Carolina June 3, 2012, Cutler Bay, Miami, Florida A resident of Greater Miami since 1967, “Cile” as she was known to most, passed away early Sunday followi Read Obituary
Cile was a force of nature! Those years in Miami , so incredibly social, she and my partner Tad Distler would hit every possible event from art openings to black tie events!
Always elegant and so knowledgeable,
I remember when she had all her fingers operated on due to crippling arthritis, as painful as it was , she never complained.
I moved away and lost contact after Tad passed, and it took this long to finally find Cile.
I’m so sorry I never saw her again .
I’m glad she had a long full life full of family and friends!
Patrick S. Harrigan
Pasadena, Ca.
On the CBS News tonight, there is a story about the use of bee stings for pain. It made me think of Cilé, my former neighbor and mentor whom I had not seen for 30 years, when she was the age I am now. My google search pulled up this photo of Cilé, pretty in pink.
So, why did bee sting therapy make me think of Cilé?
When I met Cilé, she was looking for a solution to the arthritis pain that made writing so difficult. It was the year of her trip to Boston for a then state-of-the-art procedure to replace arthritic finger joints. Cilé was so brave and optimistic, character traits that I came to know as central to her core values.
Finding this obit prompted a search for mementos from 1980's; I found a note from Cilé that I read tonight and I heard her voice. She was one class act, that Cilé. I only wish I'd looked for her a few years earlier.
