Born on Aug. 15, 1929, Norma Demolo Caña was the third of seven children of Antonio and Placida Caña. With her father one of the first Filipino preachers in the province, she was exposed to the Gospel at an early age and became a lifelong follower of Jesus Christ while in her childhood or early teens.
She graduated valedictorian from Caliling Elementary School in her hometown of Cauayan. After graduating with honors from the Negros Occ. High School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English degree, magna cum laude, from the Central Philippine University in Iloilo.
She was an instructor at CPU when in 1960 she qualified for a scholarship at the Univ. of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). There she earned her M.A. in English degree and then her Doctorate in Education.
Then she started teaching at UCLA and later at a middle school also in L.A. where she became one the highest-paid teachers in her district.
It was during this period that she married Creston Williamson and later gave birth to Jim, their only child.
She was blessed in so many ways: sharp intellect, academic honors, opportunities for graduate and post-graduate studies abroad, and financial resources, among them.
Unlike most of those who have been similarly blessed, however, she unselfishly and generously shared and used her many blessings to bless so many people.
Not long after MCHS/MCC was started by her brother-in-law Pastor Samuel Irving Colinco Sr. with the help of her elder sister Rosita, she and her husband Creston started supporting it with their prayers and finances.
It was mainly because of them that MCC was able to complete payments for five of its six lots back in the 90’s. Their love gifts kept the school afloat for many years.
After her husband died, she retired, sold her house and came home in 2004 and volunteered to serve at MCC as school consultant.
In her words, “believing that it is here at MCC …where God has prompted me to labor for Him, I came… with the eagerness of one who has a God-given purpose to fulfill and who has set out to humbly fulfill her own part of the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am glad I came. I appreciate every opportunity of service given to me…”
She used her solid academic training in education, and her vast experience as a veteran educator to help a struggling school instead of enjoying her retirement years.
A missionary whose passion was spreading the Gospel, she was MCC’s biggest benefactor, donating a 1,000 sq. m. lot which is now occupied by five classrooms, funding the construction of a 3-storey annex building, its girl’s rest room, library extension and financing the operations of its school canteen, facilitating the donation of several container-loads of books and other printed materials along with videos, CDs and tapes for its library (and other libraries in the city and province and other parts of the country) as well as desktops for its computer laboratory, purchasing TV monitors for its library, computer laboratory and classrooms, laptops for its teachers, among many other things.
Generous to a fault, she must have spent tens of millions of pesos for MCC over a period of about 30 years, instead of using these for herself and her family in the U.S.
She upgraded not only its facilities but also the skills of its faculty and staff by conducting trainings for them and those of its administrators by mentoring them.
The seven years she served at MCC before departing to be with Christ her Savior and Lord in 2012 were its golden years in terms of intellectual growth, material progress and physical improvements.
Because of her passion for Christ, she was such a great blessing to the school’s administrators, faculty and staff members and students and to many others.
Indeed, Norma Caña Williamson was blessed to be a blessing. To God be the glory for blessing her and using her as a blessing!