This post was originally published on this site.
Katherine was the daughter of Wilton Earl and Minnie Eva (Collier) Stonecypher. She was their third child, and the only one to live to adulthood. Her brother William (Bill) was a soldier stationed in the Philippines during World War II and was killed in the line of duty at the age of 20. Her sister Marcel died from an illness when she was a toddler. Katherine missed having siblings in her adult life, but enjoyed close friendships with her many Collier and Stonecypher cousins in Stephens County, Georgia.
Katherine attended school in Eastanollee, Georgia and was a quiet, hard working student. After high school she attended Toccoa Falls Institute (later Toccoa Falls College) and took secretarial courses. She was hired from there in 1948 by an attorney in Toccoa, Tom Burton. She worked for him and the company he founded, Toccoa Insurance Agency, for her entire career. In 1992 she retired after 44 years.
In 1956, Katherine met James Ivan McClain (Jim) through mutual friends in downtown Toccoa. Jim had returned from the Korean conflict several years earlier and worked on the family farm in the Red Hill community of Franklin County, Georgia.
Jim and Katherine were married in 1957. They would laugh that they were old enough to know better than to marry, but they enjoyed a long, happy marriage. When she married Jim, Katherine gained 2 sisters and 6 brothers. Jim gained an ever-present mother-in-law, since Katherine’s mother Eva was widowed by then. It was Jim’s idea that he would move in with them, and it worked well.
Their lives were built upon faith in God, devotion to their family, and hard work. They were committed members of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Toccoa. Katherine taught Sunday school and played the piano and organ for church services. They were content and joyful people.
Jim and Katherine were the proud parents of four children: Dale, Roy, Joyce, and Ellen, and the even prouder grandparents of 15 grandchildren. Dale and his wife Ruth live in Atlanta. Roy and his wife Sharon live in Gainesville, Georgia. Joyce and Derek Miller live in Cumming, Georgia, and Ellen and Judson Shelnutt live in Athens. There are now 12 great grandchildren in the family, with another little one on the way.
At the request of her children after suffering a stroke, Katherine moved in 2021 to live in Athens, Georgia with Ellen and Judson.
Her final years have been ones of gentle dignity and beauty. She has been surrounded by children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, as well as a team of the most devoted, loving caregivers in all the world. Even though she was unable to speak, her life and spirit communicated volumes to everyone who entered her room.
The family is deeply grateful to the ones who helped us care for Katherine until the end: Angela Parks, Carletta Brown, Alane Howell, Katrina Hantus, Demetria Adkins, Mary P. Bagby, and Denetria Brown. Every member of the Family Hospice team who entered our home brought kindness, compassion, and tender care to Katherine. We feel so blessed.
The post Katherine Louise Stonecypher McClain appeared first on WNEG.
