Katharine Elizabeth Hurt Waggener

Katharine Elizabeth Hurt Waggener, 63, passed away peacefully at her home in Ridgeland, MS on January 24, 2017, with her loving and loyal family at her bedside. Visitation will be held Friday, January 27, 2017 at Parkway Funeral Home in Ridgeland, MS, 5:00-7:00. Visitation Saturday, 10:00-12:00 at Madison United Methodist Church, will be followed by a memorial service at noon. The Reverends Barry Male, Sr. Pastor of Madison United Methodist Church and Dr. Dax Summerhill will officiate.

Kathy was born in Pontotoc, MS to Ben and Mable Hurt and grew up at the Agricultural Experiment Station. Kathy was at her happiest out in the country, where she loved exploring the outdoors, learned about gardening, and developed her passion for animals. She graduated from Pontotoc High School in 1971. While attending Mississippi State University, Kathy met her husband, Mike Waggener, and they married on April 23, 1977.

She completed her degree in Early Childhood Education from Mississippi College and began teaching young children, a career which enveloped her heart. Parents coveted a spot for their child in her classroom, and her students never forgot her. She instilled in their lives a special love for nature and for books. Over the years, with her zeal for the outdoors and gardening, Kathy always cultivated the backyard of every home into a paradise of continually flowering beauty. She will be remembered to most by just one name…Wag.

Kathy is survived by her loving husband of 40 years, Oliver Michael Waggener; her two daughters, Amy Katharine Taylor and Molly Gee Webster, and their husbands, George Taylor and Justin Webster; two grandchildren, Anslee and McKinley Taylor; sisters and their husbands: Betty Jane and Jim Gamble, Dianne and Bill Lovelady, Ruth and Tommy McMillin; nieces and nephews: Amanda Gamble Jones, Greg Gamble, Ben Gamble, Niles Lovelady, Brad Lovelady, Neal McMillin, Ruth Allison McMillin, and Preston McMillin; and her mother, Mable Williams Hurt. Kathy is predeceased by her father, Benjamin Clinton Hurt, Jr. and too many beloved dogs to count.