Katherine Barnett McCall

On September 27, 2024, Katherine Barnett McCall (“Kat”) died after being hit by a tree felled by Hurricane Helene. She was 62 years old. 

Katherine Meador Barnett was born December 2, 1961, in Athens, Georgia while both of her parents were students at the University of Georgia. Georgia played Georgia Tech that same day. 

Kat spent most of her childhood with her sisters, Ivey and Allie, in Newnan, Georgia. Kat took an interest in painting and photography even in these early years. She was “always the hostess,” frequently bringing breakfast to the bus stop. When the time came for an ELO concert and Kat didn’t like anything in her closet, she made herself a new skirt and a green silk top. In the years leading up to her 1980 graduation from Newnan High School, she forged a lifelong bond with her cadre of Newnan miscreants: the WDWs. 

Kat attended Converse College. She loved her botany class, despite being repeatedly reminded that she wasn’t going to find the best dates that way. She also enjoyed going out to drink beer with her friends. “She could dance like a crazy woman, she had friends all over her, and she was such a good student.” She graduated with a B.A. in Biology in 1984. 

During high school, Kat worked in the operating rooms of Crawford W. Long Memorial Hospital in Atlanta with her grandfather. After graduating from Converse, she returned to Atlanta and worked as an operating room technician for a group of oral surgeons.

One of Kat’s lifelong friends, Frank Powell, attended the Medical College of Georgia with Brad McCall. On the evening of July 25, 1987, Frank introduced Kat to George, Brad’s brother and a mechanical engineer recently graduated from Georgia Tech. Later that evening, George heard God speak to him for the first and only time in his life, tapping him on the shoulder and telling him “She’s the one.” Kat and George were married on August 12, 1989. 

The newlyweds first lived in Decatur, Georgia and later near Peachtree Battle Shopping Center in Atlanta. Kat returned to school, earning a degree in nursing from Emory University. She worked at Egleston Children’s Hospital and then at Smyrna Hospital. She and George purchased their first home in Smyrna in 1991.

Kat and George struggled to have children for many years. Then, on April 1, 1996, Mac was born. Kat had stopped working the previous fall. The family moved to Newnan, Georgia in the spring of 1998, and Trent was born on December 30 of that year. 

Kat’s irrepressible drive to create beautiful things continually manifested itself in new ways. She designed, made, and installed window treatments and other custom home furnishings. Later she built a small embroidery business. But her love for her boys always came first.

Kat and George started homeschooling Mac and Trent in 2003. For biology, Kat helped the boys raise tadpoles. For astronomy, she taught them to look up at the “little lot of stars” above their backyard. And for history, Kat and George planned and hosted multiple civil war reenactments. Kat became a beloved teacher at the Classical Conversations homeschool co-op. “She never told us what to think; she gave us the tools to think ourselves.” She opened her home to her students and hosted Virginia Reel line dances in her driveway. 

In 2005, Kat created a children’s book called The Promise of Spring based upon her boys’ adventures in that year’s ice storm. From 2005 to 2013 Kat wrote and illustrated a column called The Thoughtful Gardener for Newnan-Coweta Magazine. Kat credited her children’s book with confirming to her that she could one day succeed as an artist. After her death, her family found The Promise of Spring in a drawer next to her bed, lying beneath her copy of War and Peace. 

In 2006, the family moved to Augusta, Georgia. The teenage boys left her tutelage for Augusta Preparatory Day School in 2012. In 2014, Kat returned to nursing at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia to help pay for the boys’ college. 

Kat also reignited a childhood dream which had at times seemed very distant. On nights and weekends, she began creating custom paper products such as invitations, while continuing to paint. In 2017, she quit her job, officially founding Kat McCall Papers in 2018. 

Kat built Kat McCall Papers into a nationally renowned brand, creating both original art and designs, which she to used develop a vast variety of paper products, including stationery and invitation suites. 

Kat’s work is far too extensive to be meaningfully summarized here, but the following might give an idea of the breadth of her abilities and ambition. She created invitations and paper goods for events such as the American Ballet Theater’s annual fundraising galas, the New York Botanical Gardens Winter Wonderland Ball in 2022 and the Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Party at the Kentucky Derby in 2019.

Her original paintings grace places and things across the world. A collection of watercolors depicting southern game birds and their feathers adorns many products sold by Kevin’s Fine Outdoor Gear & Apparel in Thomasville, Georgia. Kat also created the illustrations of bourbon cocktails and renowned mixologists in Bourbon Cocktails for Every Occasion, a Bourbon Guidebook produced by Blade & Bow Bourbon with Garden & Gun Magazine.

Kat was a featured artist for two years at the Walton Foundation’s Undercover Artists Show, and she was recently featured in a multiple page spread in national hunting periodical Covey Rise Magazine. 

Kat “liked having all the people she loved together.” For many years, she hosted Thanksgiving for both the McCalls and Barnetts. Members of her “Bunny Club” of friends often dropped by her home for a glass of white wine.

Kat and George celebrated their 35th anniversary in Charleston, riding around in a rickshaw as Kat waved to anyone and everyone, flashing her snow-white hair and radiant smile. In the weeks leading up to Hurricane Helene, Kat had been working feverishly on a new set of paintings in her studio. She had been reading Art and Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimara, a book emphasizing the importance of artistic creation to our relationship with God. As Kat said, “You can’t create unless you know the Creator.” Her boys were at home with her.

Kat died in her sleep, with her beloved dog Buddy at her side. The “love of her life,” George, was thankfully absent when the tree hit their bedroom. They will meet again in the loving gaze of their Creator.

Kat is survived by her husband: George Samuel McCall II; their children: George “Mac” Samuel McCall III and Stephen Trent McCall; her father: Stephen Trent Barnett and wife Linda Glover Barnett; and her sisters: Ivey Barnett Fulmer, and husband Preston Thomas Fulmer Jr., Sarah “Allie” Allen Balling, and husband Mark Paul Balling. 

She is also survived by her brothers-in-law: George Daniel McCall Jr. and Bradley Todd McCall (Lee Burris McCall); as well as her sister-in-law: Mary Linda McCall Lamar (George Johnson Lamar). Nieces: Mary McCall Chambers, Sara Ivey Fulmer, Claire Ellen McCall, and Anna Grace McCall, and nephews: Jackson Wyatt Balling, John David Chambers Jr., Matthew Bradley McCall, Preston Thomas Fulmer III, and Jonathan Graham McCall. 

She was preceded in death by her mother, Ivey Ann Jernigan Barnett.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to The Hale Foundation, 402 Walker Street, Augusta, GA 30901 or at  https://www.thehalefoundation.com/. Your money will save lives there. 

Kat McCall Papers will continue fulfilling orders with the primary objective of providing for Kat’s dedicated employees.

Come celebrate Kat’s life at Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church at 2261 Walton Way, Augusta GA 30904 from 1:00 to 1:45 on October 19, 2024. A reception will follow from 2:00 to 4:00 at the Augusta Country Club.