Services for Mrs. Kathy Graham will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19 at Milling Funeral Home Chapel of Sebastopol with burial in the Prospect Baptist Church Cemetery. Bro. Harmon Smith will officiate.
Visitation will be held from 5:30- 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18 at Milling Funeral Home of Sebastopol.
“Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love, and fearlessness. If love is as sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.”
Kathy Christine French Graham entered this life Jan. 8, 1952, in Newton, to Perry Lee and Helen French. She departed her earthly home Jan. 16, 2018, at her home in Conehatta, surrounded by her husband, son, grandchildren, and other loved ones.
She is survived by her husband of 46 years Delbert Ray Graham; her son Christopher (Pete) Graham and his wife, Christina; her grandsons, Jake and Dalton Graham; one brother David French and his wife Debbie; her mother Helen Graham French; three sisters-in-law, Gettis Tatum, Karen Monk and Dorothy Russell; three brothers-in-law, Kenneth Graham, Danny Marcus Graham and Tommy Wayne Graham; and a host of other relatives.
She is preceded in death by her father, Perry Lee French; her son, Delbert Ray (Buddy) Graham Jr.; her sister, Janis French Vance; and her brother, Michael Perry French.
Kathy and her husband resided in the Conehatta community and were members of New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church. Kathy taught school for 23 years where she worked with special needs children tirelessly to help them get an education. She was very patriotic and proud to be an American.
She longed for the days of the past where families all lived together in one place. Late nights watching “The Golden Girls”and talking to God helped her make it through the grief she experienced when her oldest son, Buddy, left this world in 1993. But, most importantly, Kathy was a Christian woman who loved being a mother, wife, aunt, sister, daughter, and grandmother. She was one of a kind who loved God first and foremost and her husband, sons, and grandsons with all her heart.
She was a dutiful daughter who cared for her mother until she was no longer able to do so. She was the epitome of what a wife and mother should be — caring, loving, strong, and faithful. She persevered through all the obstacles that life brought her way and never wavered. She showed great strength and courage throughout her life right up until her last moments. Her faith in God was strong, and she taught us all to rely on God. There has never been a more wonderful, loving mother/wife/grandmother.
She lived by the words in these Bible verses she had highlighted in her Bible: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”—Proverbs 3:5-6.
Pallbearers will be Brian Graham, CD Graham, Gary Graham, Jack Scoskie, Josh French, Bubba Graham and Levi French.
Honorary pallbearers will be Sean Scoskie, Buster Graham, Dusty Vance and Austin Monk.
