Recalling our move to Decatur in 2000 caused me to remember the wonderful way our next-door neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Keith, welcomed us — and the other newcomers down the street, Alex and Sherri Craft — with a party!
That got me to thinking about Ms. Johnnie Keith, as her friends and close neighbors call her, and how her Decatur experience is so very different from ours. Whereas we are from elsewhere, she was born and reared in Decatur and has lived here her entire life. I decided to take a look at Decatur through her eyes.
Ms. Johnnie was the second, and youngest, child of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Jones. Born in 1926, she was named Johnnie after her father and Mae after her mother, Ada Mae. She remembers her life here as a child as a “beautiful life,” with the little country town of a few hundred people being “a good environment, with no crime to speak of or notoriety in any way.” The social life back then consisted of going to town on Saturday and to church on Sunday.
Ms. Johnnie was five years younger than Mr. Thomas Keith, but they started going together when she was still in high school. She says laughingly, “His friends thought he’d robbed the cradle!” He joined the Navy soon after they began dating, as World War II had begun. They corresponded while he was gone and married soon after he came home, on April 14, 1946. She was teaching school at the time, having attended EC then MSCW continually to earn her degree in Education.
They went on to have two children, Thomas Jr. and Kathie, and were married a total of 55 years before Mr. Keith’s death in 2001. There are six grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren, making a large and close family with great respect for their beloved Nana.
I asked her two questions: How is Decatur different from when you were growing up, without considering the obvious changes in technology, etc.? and,
What do you like best about Decatur? Her answers were somewhat connected. She said the small town was a very close-knit community back then, though now, with the large increase in population from outside Decatur, not so much.
Yet, she still likes the “family feeling and wholesome environment” of Decatur. So, at least for Ms. Johnnie, and for me, the newcomer, the town has retained some of the best qualities of the early population!
Here in Decatur, her God, family, church, and country have always been important to Ms. Johnnie. Even now, at 91, she remains very active, with her quick smile and laugh, as people love her and love to be around her.
She has attended Clarke-Venable Baptist Church down on Broad Street her entire life.
She said that for her family, their church attendance, support, and active membership was not just because of tradition but stemmed from a true faith in Christ.
Her father was a faithful, but quiet, member of the church, whereas her mother was outgoing and social, and very church oriented, being “powerful in her crusade for the church,” and having a “real heart belief in Jesus and the gospel.”
Ms. Johnnie grew up always believing in Jesus, but said when she was fifteen she decided she needed to join the church. She declared fervently, “Jesus was important to me from the word ‘Go’!” She professed a testimony that she has learned from her long life that God has been with her, led her, and helped her in every situation.
From her experience, she knows that He will be with her even at the end.
It is an inspiration to witness one who has lived so long, through the many experiences of life continuing to have a firm faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
