Obituaries

Dr. Katherine Virginia McMillan Hendry, 98, passed away Sunday afternoon, February 28, 2010, at the Satilla Regional Medical Center.

Born in East Point, GA on December 31, 1911, Dr. Hendry grew up in Atlanta where she attended public schools and graduated from North Avenue Presbyterian School in 1931.  Following her high school graduation she went on to receive her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Georgia in 1934.  She then pursued her medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta graduating in 1938.  Dr. Hendry was one of the first women to graduate in Georgia with a medical degree.  She interned at Columbia Hospital, Columbia, South Carolina in 1938 and began her practice of medicine in Blackshear in 1939. 

Dr. Hendry practiced medicine in Blackshear for almost four decades, retiring in 1978.  During her career she was the first woman president of the Ware County Medical Society, served as Pierce County Hospital’s anesthetist and was a member of the Medical Association of Georgia, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of General Practice.  Dr. Hendry had been on staff at the Pierce County Hospital, the Ware County Hospital and at Baptist Village.

Dr. Hendry was very active in her community over the years and was known affectionately as just Dr. Katherine.  She was a member and past-president of the Blackshear Woman’s Club where she had also served as chairman of the building committee.  She was a past-president of the Pierce County Library Board of Trustees and had been a chairman of the Okefenokee Regional Library system.  Dr. Katherine was a founding member of the Blackshear Supper Club and was instrumental in the founding of the Care and Share Program which delivers nourishing meals to the community’s sick, shut-in and elderly residents.  She received many awards and citations over the years including the Pierce County Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year award, the Morris Jacobson Brotherhood Award and the Blackshear Exchange Club’s Book of Golden Deeds award.  Dr. Katherine was also a talented artist and loved to paint.

She was a member of Blackshear First United Methodist Church where she was active in the Bible study program, the United Methodist Women and was church historian.  

She was the only child of the late James Edward and Clyde Lovinggood McMillan and was also preceded in death by her step-mother, Margueritte Harper.  

Survivors include a daughter and son-in-law, Kay & Roy Stewart of Blackshear; a son and daughter-in-law, Richard McMillan Hendry & Juanita Hendry of Columbus; four grandchildren, Tony & Rachel Cantrell, Tracy Stewart, Victoria & Richard Bostick and Felicia & Jason Burr; 3 great grandchildren, Zach Sloop, Alana Turner and Penelope Burr; 5 nieces and nephews, Dr. Katherine L. Hendry, Emily Aguirre, Dudley & Brenda Hendry, Rosiland & Bob Eskew and Betty Ann Blackburn and several other relatives.