Surrounded by family and friends who loved her dearly, Katherine “Kakie” Brown Magann passed away on Sunday evening, April 11, 2021 in her home in Madison, Mississippi. Kakie was born on January 1, 1951 in Princeton, West Virginia to the late William “Buster” Brown and Marguerite Hinty Brown. She graduated from Princeton High School in 1968, attended Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Virginia and obtained her B.S. in nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1973. Kakie worked in the ICU in Richmond, Virginia and was the Curriculum Coordinator and Director of Family Life Education for the Tazewell County, Virginia school system for 5 years in the 1980s. In 1991, Kakie moved from Bluefield, Virginia with her family to Jackson, Mississippi, where she lived the remainder of her life. She worked for Dr. Earl Fyke, a wonderful and well-respected cardiologist for 28 years. Kakie worked in Cardiology at Baptist Health Systems and the University of Mississippi Medical Center assisting patients who required pacemakers and defibrillators.
Regardless of where she was, Kakie’s patients could connect with her via her personal cell phone. Climbing mountains in Maine, walking the beaches of Florida, or biking who knows where, she answered her phone. From the homeless man with a pacemaker to the Federal Judge, she was always available to assist those in need.
Kakie was a gifted athlete. She played basketball and enjoyed coaching little league basketball teams. Throughout her life, she won numerous road races and competed in marathons, including the New York City Marathon. She loved to bike, hike and spend time outdoors, especially the summers in her beloved Maine and at her sister’s home at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. However, her first and most important love was raising and caring for her three children and being the best grandmother to her five grandchildren. Known as “KaKa” to them all, she and her partner, Linda, who is known as “GiGi” to all of the grandchildren, spent their time visiting the grandchildren, planning endless excursions and taking the grandchildren on trips. And there was nothing more fun than a trip to Kaka and Gigi’s house, where you would always be spoiled, could eat the best food, and be endlessly loved.
Kakie’s time here was cut way too short by the debilitating effects of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, attacking her muscles and slowly robbing her of the ability to speak, swallow, move and eventually breathe. This incurable disease truly met its match with Kakie. She learned all she could about the disease, sought out the best treatment all the while continuing with her nursing career. She kept healthy and strong by continuing to walk or ride her recumbent bike until the last 3 months, when she finally lost the ability to move at all. Throughout this time, she was always supported by her partner, Linda, whose love and compassion knows no end, as well as her daughter, Melissa, who was and always will be the most beautiful light in Kakie’s life. Kakie also had wonderful and supportive care from Dr. Varun Sreenivasan and staff, her in-home caregivers, Gwen McMurtery and Ruby Harris, and friends, Margaret and Lea Ann Deavours. Kakie was able to remain in her home until the end and was visited often by family and friends, who surrounded her with love, tears and words of peace. Kakie was a beautiful, compassionate, generous and kind woman, whose special, unconditional and incomparable love touched everyone she met. She will be greatly missed.
Kakie was preceded in death by her father, William “Buster” Brown, who died almost exactly one year before her in 2020 and by her mother, Marguerite Brown, who passed away in 2014. Kakie is survived by her loving and devoted partner of 28 years, Linda Vance; her sons, Patrick Michael Magann and his wife, Victoria of Bluefield, West Virginia; Christopher Mark Magann and his wife, Katherine of Little Rock, Arkansas; and her daughter, Melissa Dane Magann of Brandon, Mississippi; five grandchildren, Hayley Magann, Hannah, Price, Adison and Kat Kelly Magann; one brother, Dr. William “Bill” Brown and his wife, Jamie and two sisters; Susan Lohin and her husband, Don; and Judy Long and her husband, David, many nieces and nephews. She was blessed to have the love and support of her ex-husband, Dr. Everett “Pat” Magann and his wife, Marcia, as well as many wonderful friends and co-workers, including Millie, her beloved Border Collie.
There will be a Memorial Service at 4:00pm Friday May 21, 2021 preceded by visitation from 2-4pm at Parkway Funeral Home in Ridgeland, MS to celebrate the life of Kakie. She will be cremated and, to honor her wishes, her ashes will be spread in her beloved Maine and Virginia. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Team Gleason Foundation, which improves lives for people living with ALS, at P.O. Box 24493, New Orleans, LA, 70184, Mississippi Animal Rescue League, 5221 Greenway Drive Extension, Jackson, Mississippi, 39204 or Grace Episcopal Church, 161 East Peace Street, P.O. Box 252 Canton, MS 39046.
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