Women’s history month, Big Sister, Katherine

Autos of beauty:

Meet Sheron Gauci, executive Director of GM  Design.

For today (Monday):

This is Women’s history month. Of course I never knew Anne Franks, but her name is known worldwide by her diary.  Madam Marie Curie was before my time but she studied uses of uranium and coined the word Radioactivity which has brought forth many cures of some cancer. These ladies changed history.

That brings me back to women I have known and that influenced my life. I have lost both my sisters. Kat was a character. She married @ 16 to S.A.(Dick) Lankford, who was also 16 and working full time in the cotton mill.

Dick had always felt he should be a preacher, he studied hard, worked and prayed and by the time he was 22-23, they left to organize a church. Kat followed her mama and mentor and furthered her 9^th grade education thru correspondence courses. This helped her to fill the life of a pastor’s wife and mother and later as an administrator herself.  Dick was assigned our churches overseer-ship of  NY and later all of Canada. Kat learned fast to produce a monthly paper, organize state wide meetings and supervise the state women’s works.  The Haitians and Jamaicans called her Mama.

One of the thousands of examples of Kat being Kat. The General Overseer asked her to speak to a meeting of worldwide administrators and missionaries. When she took the podium and started her speech she said something about a woman’s position in marriage and church that did not set well with the General. “Now wait Sister Katherine….” Before he could finish she continued. “You hold it big boy, you asked me to speak, and this is my microphone.”  She got a standing ovation of the thousands in attendance. The General even apologized for interrupting, saying, “That is why she was asked to speak, she is one real lady!”

 

After retirement Kat & Dick became RV’ers. WE ran together for a few years. They were the ideal traveling buddies. They loved the state parks and Corps of Engineers parks with outdoor fires we did too. Dick was a fisherman and taught me to fish; I had a ‘folda-bote.’ Kat and Sherry could cook some of the best meals on the road. Having Kat & Dick with us, even to Alaska, holds so many memories.

Kat & Dicks motor home crossing the Yukon River.  Below that they are adding our names to the' Sign Forest' in the Yukon

 

I built them a home, Kat made some changes to the plans and we adapted them, we are still enjoying her creativity with a sit-down breakfast bar.

I cannot say enough about a wonderful lady, my older sister Katharine.

Nite Shipslog  

I am missing so many pictures in the Other computer.