Mary Catherine Henderson McGee

Mary Catherine Henderson McGee, a retired veteran schoolteacher, stalwart churchgoer, and sought-after listener, confidante, and friend, died Thursday morning at Baptist Memorial Hospital–Golden Triangle in Columbus. She was 96 years old.

She had an incredible appetite for work. She was, among other things, an inveterate gardener, a pastime in which she had an ample opportunity to indulge in her retirement. She tended plants well into her 90s, and not long before her death.

Her life stretched from an often-barefoot existence on a Depression-era Choctaw County farm--where days often began at 4 AM tending livestock--to the early 1990s, when another local native, Governor Ray Mabus, spearheaded an ambitious program to put a computer in every Mississippi kindergarten and first-grade classroom to fight illiteracy. Between those two points, during her teaching career from 1949 to 1990, education became a much more demanding profession, with refinements championed by Governor William Winter in 1982 that included more stringent teacher accountability and performance-based accreditation standards. The reforms included mandated in-service training and professional development initiatives.

After her retirement in 1990, she and her husband, James McGee (deceased 2012), enjoyed gardening and traveling, in which they went to all 50 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces. Her favorite hobbies were growing flowers and baking. She often made food for community events and took food to individuals who were sick and shut-ins. At her death, she was the oldest member of Ackerman Baptist Church.

Mary left two children, Patsy Jane (John) of Columbia, SC,and Cathryn Rene (Joe) of Little Rock, AR, and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James Patterson McGee (2012); her parents, Robert Smith Henderson (1946) and Addie Jane (Murphy) Henderson (1955); two brothers, Mancel (1986) and William (1999); and one sister, Marjorie (1932).

Funeral services will be held at Ackerman Baptist Church in Ackerman, MS, on Monday, September 29, 2025, at 2:00 PM with Dr. Danny Irvin officiating. Burial will follow at Enon Cemetery in Ackerman, MS. Visitation will be held on Sunday, September 28, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Coleman Funeral Home in Ackerman, MS. Pallbearers will be Jim Miller of Springfield, MO, and Barry Powell, Buddy Cornish, Powers Humphrey, Eric Chambers, and Larry Forrester, all of Ackerman, MS.

Memorials may be made to Ackerman Baptist Church.