Lucita Renee Centron McDougald, age 53, of Sanford passed away on Thursday, August 27, 2020 at Duke Medical Center in Durham from complications resulting from breast cancer.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, September 12, 2020, at Point Church, 304 Raleigh St., Holly Springs, NC 27540 at 2:00 p.m. with Pastor Chris Peltz officiating. A graveside service will be held privately for the family.
Lucita was born in Hartford, Connecticut on March 26, 1967, to the late Jose Antonio and Luz Colon Centron. She was preceded in death by her chosen parents, Sulley and Pansy Smith Blount.
She is survived by her fiancé Christopher McDougald of Sanford; sisters, Vickie Washington of Durham and Amy Lykins also of Durham; brothers, Blake Reaves of Durham, Darren Wilder of Durham, and Jeff Lawton also of Durham; siblings from the Washington/Smith/Blount family, daughters; Crystal McDougald, Ashley Barrios, Whitney McDougald Chambers and her husband Brandon, Jessica Searles, and Christian McDougald; son, Christopher McDougald, Jr.; granddaughters, Kenly Monroe and Braylon Chambers; and grandsons, Giovanni McDougald, Barry Allen, and Brandon Chambers, Jr.; and many loving friends.
Lucita was raised in a foster home until she aged out of the program. She was very open about the struggles she faced throughout her early years. In her 30s she began her walk with Jesus at Triangle Church in Chapel Hill. It was during this time that she met the first members of her chosen family; her sister Vickie, brothers Blake and Darren, her siblings from the Washington/Smith/Blount family, and the people that she came to call daddy and mommy, Mr. Blount and Mrs. Pansy.
Lucita had completed her master's certification and was working on her master's degree. In addition to a long career in Human Resources, she was a co-owner and a photographer at Lifetime Reflections Photography, and she was an investor and office manager at Piedmont Towing and Auto Repair. She was active in her church in the First Contact ministry, the photography ministry, and a co-leader of SMASH, Singles Ministering And Serving Him. This was where she also met her additional chosen family, brother, Jeff, and sister, Amy.
After meeting and falling in love with Chris, she moved to Sanford and added to her chosen family, taking Chris's daughters, son, and grandchildren as her own. Over the years, Chris and Lucita worked on building their relationship and focusing on ministry, never questioning that God had brought them together.
For all of her accomplishments and successes, Lucita would say that her greatest accomplishment was her relationship with Jesus. Regardless of the circumstances, she not only praised God, but she pointed others to Him. We all know that she is in his presence now and we look forward to the day that we will see her again.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to her GoFundMe account at https://gf.me/u/yvjtb5 or you can make donations in her name to the Pretty in Pink Foundation directly at https://www.prettyinpinkfoundation.org/, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping North Carolina breast cancer patients with funds for medications and treatment.
Condolences may be sent to www.coxmemorialfuneralhome.com.
Cox Memorial..."Serving GOD, by serving families in a time of need."
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