Katy Dixon

Katy Ruth Grayson Dixon, 94, of Boiling Springs, NC, passed away at her residence and went home to be with her Savior Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Born in Rutherford County, NC, on October 28, 1920, Katy was the daughter of the late William C. and Pearl Grayson of Forest City, NC. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Hubert C. Dixon; sisters, Martha Hipps and Evangeline Jowers; and nephew, Douglas Harvey.
Katy graduated from Cool Springs High School in Forest City and received an Associate in Arts degree from Mars Hill College. After next receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and French from WCUNC (University of NC-Greensboro), she earned her Masters degree in Religious Education from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
Katy taught in public schools in Rutherford and Cleveland counties, including her alma mater, Cool Springs High School, for eleven years. She served as Minister of Education and Youth in churches in North Carolina and Georgia. She also worked at the Baptist State Convention in Raleigh.
She was a member of Boiling Springs Baptist Church.
She has served as president of the WMU at Boiling Springs Baptist Church, as well as the Bread and Roses Homemakers Club.
Katy's interests were many, though church and family were her priorities. She was an active member of the Foothills Quilters Guild. She enjoyed doing many different crafts; among those she liked best were sewing and quilting, knitting and crocheting, needlepoint, cross stitch, and bargello. She kept a vegetable garden for many years and enjoyed lawn work around her home. Katy also enjoyed cooking and baking, skills she said she attributed to her mother.
Travel was a great source of joy for Katy. She visited much of the United States, including a coast to coast, month long road trip in the 1960's, as well as a large number of countries around the world. Two of those journeys were mission trips she made after turning eighty years old. The first was a six week trip to China to teach oral English to Chinese teachers; the second, made a few years later, was a ten day working trip to the Ukraine.
Katy is survived by her sister, Melba Banton; stepdaughter, Jean Gunnels (John); nieces and nephews, Brenda Johnson (Michael), Donna Morris (JT), Bill Banton (June), Keith Jowers (Ann), Elizabeth Nantkes (Michael), and Selma Gandy (Clarence).
A funeral service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m., Monday, April 27, 2015, at Boiling Springs Baptist Church, with Rev. Jim Richardson officiating. The family will receive friends from 10:00-11:00 a.m. prior to the service at the church. Interment will follow the service at Cleveland Memorial Park.
Memorial donations may be made in memory of Katy to Boiling Springs Baptist Church or Cooperative Baptist Fellowship for the home in China for Cerebral Palsey or Village of Hope in the Ukraine.
Condolences may be made online at: www.clevelandfuneralservices.com
Cleveland Funeral Service and Crematory is serving the family.