As we are born, so we must die. Don't cry for me because I am gone. We all must leave our footprints in the sands of time as we transcend to our greater destiny. Only cry if and because you will miss my presence in your midst. God was good to me. Rejoice in my blessings and thank God for his goodness. Remember the good times and rejoice. I had some good days and I had some bad days but through them all I made it to my end and this is "my end" here on this earth.

Born Katie Mae Jackson on Mannie Plantation in Fitler, Mississippi, December 21, 1947, at 6:30 in the morning, she was the first child of eight children born to the late Willie Sr. and Edna Durr Jackson. Katie confessed Christ at an early age. She was a faithful member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church where she served as the secretary and choir director until her health declined. Katie accepted the call to ministry and became an ordained minister, a calling that she took very seriously.

She grew up on New Fitler Plantation. Her school life began at 5 years of age in a little red school building at the foot of the Levee called Dunbarden Colored School, one of the Rosenwald schools that her grandfather, Baker Durr Sr. helped establish for Black children in Issaquena County. The next year she began attending Mayersville School, where she went until the end of her 5th grade year. She spent her 6th grade year at Cary Elementary School and began Henry Weathers Middle/ High School in September 1960, where she graduated May 27, 1960, in the top 20 of her class. She received her Bachelor of Social Work Degree from Delta State University in May 1996. Her career path started in Chicago, IL where she was a secretary for Standard Oil Company. She returned home which is where she raised her kids and served her community. She worked in many roles over the course of time. She worked in multiple positions at the Cary Christian Center. She started off as a bus driver for Ripley-Blackwell Head Start and worked her way up to a case manager position. She also worked at a domestic violence shelter in Vicksburg, MS. The last years of her work career were spent working as a social worker at WWISCAA; she was forced to retire early after a sudden health crisis. At her core, Katie was an advocate for the people in her community and known for being someone who spoke her mind and spoke up for others.

Katie leaves to cherish her memory three daughters Kaquana M. King of Evanston, IL, Bobbi L. King-Warren Memphis, TN, and DeEtte (Kim) L.M. Henderson Bristol, TN; five grandchildren Deianira Smith, Atlantis Warren, Gabrielle Warren, Christian Beidleman, and Josiah Beidleman; four stepchildren Loyce King Latimore Clarksdale, MS, Joyce King (precedes her in death), Douglas (Pam) Green Manassas VA and Gloria Marbury Detroit MI. She also leaves four siblings Willie (Sandra) Jackson Jr of Hammond, IN, Irma Deshommes of Chicago, IL, Lester Jackson of Cary, MS and Don Jackson, Fitler, MS. She is preceded in death by her two sisters Elizabeth Jackson and Barbara Jackson.