- Obituary for Kathryn McCuistion
Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great great grandmother, musician and occasional banker, Kathryn Smith McCuistion, age 96, passed away peacefully on Monday, November 26, 2018. The youngest of three children born to Grover Cleveland and Ada Smith, she was born in Valley View, Texas on February 27, 1922. She graduated from Valley View High School as valedictorian in 1939, but she said her greatest accomplishment was marrying a younger man, C.L. McCuistion, who, by his own admission, was not a candidate for valedictorian in his own class two years later. They had four children, Dennis, Jerry, Alan and Ann.
Following stints in Henrietta, Texas, California and Ft. Worth, Kathryn and C.L. (Mac was the name everyone called him in Forney) moved to Forney in 1946. Raised in the Baptist Church, she changed her church to the First United Methodist Church where she served as pianist/organist for decades. She was also an endowed member of the Forney-Terrell Chapter #557, Order of the Eastern Star where she also served as organist. She was the consummate volunteer in all the kids’ school activities, and in addition to cooking all the meals, desserts and pinwheel cookie dough being specialties, she delivered lunches for Meals on Wheels.
She was a seamstress, making her own wedding dress and sewing for kids and grandkids. Her daughter, Ann, certainly loved wearing the pretty dresses made especially for her. Not to be outdone by many women who were homemakers, she ran her own hamburger stand and, like all her kids, also spent her time working at the Forney State and later at the White Rock National Bank, earning enough to put them all through college, something she could have done for herself had she taken SMU up on their scholarship offer in 1939.
She loved to travel, and her favorite trip was to the Holy Land since she accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior at age 12. She often said she was on a trip to God---a trip she has now completed.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 77 years, Mac , her son Jerry, and granddaughter Gina, her brother Ollie Smith and sister Pauline Wylie. She is survived by her son Dennis and wife Judy, her son Alan, her daughter Ann and husband Nick Nichols plus 8 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren and 3 great great grandchildren. The family thanks the staff at Three Forks Senior Living of Forney for their excellent care over the past two years.
Services will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 414 Broad, Forney, 75126, at 1pm on Saturday, December 1 with visitation from 5-7pm on Friday, November 30 at the New Hope Funeral Home, 500 E. Hwy. 80, Sunnyvale, TX 75182. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the church listed above or a charity of your choice.
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