Ollie Guthrie

Ollie Katherine Guthrie, 93, died peacefully in her sleep on March 8th in Leander, Texas.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 10, 2011, at Marshall & Marshall Funeral Directors Chapel in Hillsboro. Burial will follow at Ridge Park Cemetery in Hillsboro. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

She was born at 107 Corsicana Street in Hillsboro, Texas, the daughter of J. T. and Ollie (Turk) Guthrie. She was preceded in death by her parents; one brother, Jack; sister-in-law, Isabel Guthrie; nieces, Donelda Louise Guthrie Recer and Kathryn Guthrie Atherton; and nephew-in-law, Tom Atherton. She grew up in Hillsboro and attended Hillsboro Schools. While in high school, she was a member of the Choral Club and the Junior Sesame Club. She attended Texas Wesleyan College, now University, where she earned a Bachelors Degree. While a student there, she was a member of the Susan M. Key Literary Society, the Autiss Social Club, and served as assistant to the head of the Education Department. She was also a member of the Golden Shears, an organization for active students and was elected Smile Girl in her junior year. She later earned a Master of Arts in Education at Baylor University.

Ollie Katherine was a life time member of the First United Methodist Church of Hillsboro and served on the official board during the ministry of Larry Van Zile. As a member of the United Methodist Women, she was active in the Wesleyan Study Group. She was also an active member of the Business Womens Sunday School Class. In her youth, she was a member of the Epworth League.

After teaching the third grade in Blooming Grove, she accepted a Civil Service job with the War Department Rating Board in Amarillo. She later transferred to the United States Finance Office in Ft. Worth. She returned to Hillsboro as the first paid Secretary of the Hill County Tuberculosis Association. She then returned to third grade teaching for one year in Malone and then to Travis Elementary School in her home town. After 39 years of teaching third grade, 36 of them in Hillsboro, she retired from the Hillsboro Independent School District in 1984.

Ollie Katherine loved her country, Texas and Hillsboro. Throughout her life she was was a fan of Texas historic courthouses, bluebonnets and The Dallas Cowboys.

Survivors include: Danalynn Recer and Morris Moon, Jena Recer and Karen Phemister, Jack Atherton, Julia Atherton, Paul Recer, many dear friends and approximately one thousand adult third graders that she loved and adored.