Katie Jo Thornell Scroggins Rawlinson
Date of Birth: 09-30-1926
Date of Death: 01-13-2019
Katie Jo Thornell Scroggins Rawlinson left this earth on January 13, 2019 and entered her heavenly home after ninety-two years of life. She was born at home to Charlie Wilbanks and Kate Robbins Thornell of Rockford, Alabama in Coosa County on September 30, 1926.
Katie Jo was the youngest and last living sibling of her family and had been without her own mother since the age of four. She is predeceased by her husband, Harry Rawlinson. She is also predeceased by her brother, Jake (Dot) Thornell, and her sisters, Charlie Rose (Henry) Johnston, Frances (Aubrey) Shaw, Elizabeth (Joe) Hawkins, and Myriam (Frank) Dunlap. Also preceding her are her sons-in-law, Paul H. Langford, Dennis Cagle, and Tony Ferguson; nieces, Rosemary Bunn and Rita Kennedy, and nephews, Glenn Johnston, Ronnie Shaw, Tommy Scroggins, and Charley Thornell.
Katie Jo was a graduate of Coosa County High School in 1944 where she was a member of the National Honor Society and the girls’ basketball team. Katie Jo attended the Andrew Jackson School of Business in Nashville, TN. She was employed by Russell Corporation as an executive secretary for over forty years.
A lifelong Presbyterian, Katie Jo was raised in the Union Presbyterian Church just up the road from her home place. She was one of the last living charter members of First Presbyterian Church on Jefferson Street in Alexander City, Alabama. She also was one of the first women in that congregation to serve as a church elder. She sang in the choir for over 40 years.
Outside of serving her church and family, Katie Jo enjoyed many things. She was a life-long learner enjoying books and working the crossword puzzle first thing every morning to keep her mind sharp. She volunteered with Meals on Wheels and the Laubach Literacy Council helping to teach adults to read. She loved everything about the encyclopedia and the dictionary and was an avid student of the English language and its use or misuse thereof.
Not limited to just academics, she will be remembered for her ever constant wit, her letters to the editor, her teacakes, the ability to spit watermelon seeds and her hand knit caps. She loved the outdoors and traveled with a shovel in the trunk to dig up flowers alongside the road. Yearly she would take all who wanted to tag along on a hike to the falls in Coosa County. She and her friends were famous for road trips all around.
Katie Jo was active in wood working classes building furniture and learned to cane chairs. She was also a Master Gardener.
She was noted for her interest in sports with tennis being her favorite to play and watch. She played with no backhand choosing instead to switch hands with her racket. She could beat you at table tennis any time she chose as long as she could keep up with the score. She will best be remembered by her friends and neighbors for her contribution to local comedy theater as an actress and volunteer. In 1968 she was one of the first women in Alexander City to run for city council. Though she was not successful, she always took civic pride in the progress of Alexander City and her beloved Coosa County.
Survivors include her children Marie (Buz) Walker of Kellyton; Wendell (Catherine) Scroggins of Alexander City; Kate (Dabo) Davis of Newnan, GA; Myriam (Rich) Brauckman of Cumming, GA and step-daughter Sabrina Ferguson of Brandon, MS. Cherishing her memory and tutelage are her grandchildren Allison Scroggins Tinoco, Elizabeth Davis, Katie (Grant) Rumble, Daniel Scroggins, Emma and Steven Brauckman, and Cris and Caroline Floyd. Her great grandchildren are Olivia and Lily Scroggins. Katie Jo’s nieces and nephews are many!
A celebration of her homegoing will be held January 26, 2019 at First Presbyterian Church. Visitation will be held at 1:00 p.m. with memorial service to follow at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Laubach Literacy Council through the Lake Martin Area United Way or the First Presbyterian Church in Alexander City at the address, Po Box 96 Alexander City, AL 35011.
Alabama Funeral Homes and Cremation Centers of Camp Hill, Alabama is directing.