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I received notice today (Friday, March 13, 2026) that one of my favorite people has passed away—Mrs. Katherine McCarley. She died on the 10th.
Mrs. Katherine was a very special part of my growing up years in Magee. I lived just down the street from her, and our family store was located across Main Street from one another. Back then, life in Magee was a little slower, a little closer, and people like Mrs. Katherine helped shape the lives of young people in ways they probably never fully realized.
One of the things that makes Mrs. Katherine so dear to my heart is that she was my Sunday School teacher for two years…with a class of one—me!
We simply didn’t have many girls my age attending church at that time. But every Sunday morning, Mrs. Katherine prepared a full lesson and taught it just for me. Can you imagine how special that made a young girl feel? She cared enough about my Christian growth to invest her time and heart into one child.
Every Sunday morning she would look me straight in the eyes and begin the lesson. She never made me feel like I was “the only one there.” Instead, she made me feel like I was the most important student she had.
And you know what? I believed her.
Mrs. Katherine was one of the best Sunday School teachers I ever had—smart, kind, patient, and deeply caring. Her love for teaching and her love for people were obvious in everything she did.
When life gets a little hard and I begin to feel discouraged, I often think about Mrs. Katherine and how she believed I was important enough to deserve a teacher…even if I was the only student in the class.
Another interesting thing about Mrs. Katherine was her love for the history of Magee. She was quite the historian and spent years compiling information about our town. She created a large blue binder filled with the history of Magee, which I believe is still housed in the Magee Public Library. It isn’t something you can check out—but you can sit there and read it and learn about our town through her hard work.
Mrs. Katherine McCarley passed away at the age of 97. For the past several years she lived in Ocean Springs with her daughter Connie, but if you asked her where she was from, she would always say proudly, “I am from Magee.” Even her obituary lists Magee as her hometown.
And that seems just right.
Mrs. Katherine was part of the heart and history of this town.
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