Katherine Miller

Katherine Graves Miller, 74, went to be with her Lord and Savior on December 20, 2024. Kathy was born on November 19, 1950, to the late Gilbert Hayes and Fannie Merle Graves and was welcomed by her older brother Gib. She attended Brandon High School where she received honors such as Miss Brandon High School, Most Beautiful, Brandon's Junior Miss, and spent many hours marching as Drum Majorette. Her accolades were nearly threatened after it was discovered Kathy was reading "Valley of the Dolls" on school property, but she won that censorship battle and went on to graduate from BHS in 1968. She attended the University of Mississippi and enjoyed all the social and cultural aspects Ole Miss and Oxford had to offer during her undergraduate years, many of them with her Delta Gamma sorority sisters. After Ole Miss graduation, Kathy attended Emory University where she graduated with a master's degree in library science, thrilled that she could turn her love of books and reading into a career. Kathy worked in the Arkansas school system, VA Hospital, Delta State University, and Presbyterian Day School in Cleveland before moving back to her hometown of Brandon where she settled in to her final employment as a librarian with Rankin County School District. Kathy knew her way around a card catalog and cherished days spent with wonderful coworkers at Puckett High School and Brandon High School. She often said she had the best job in the world that allowed her to be a school librarian and also spend holidays and summers with her daughters Hart and Megan.



Being a mom to Hart and Megan was Kathy's greatest accomplishment. She showered them with unconditional love and never passed up an opportunity to remind them that they were, in the words of Mary Poppins, practically perfect. Hart and Megan gave Kathy the nickname "Mumsey" when they were in high school, and she became Mumsey to virtually everyone who knew her especially Hart and Megan's friends who became like family over the years. Mumsey loved being a mother more than anything on earth and would frequently tell Hart and Megan "I'd do it all over again - every bit of life - if it meant I could be your mom again."



Kathy married the love of her life, Rush Miller, in 2004 and became a Southern transplant spending 10 years living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Although the Pittsburgh community welcomed her with open arms, she was frequently greeted with shocked faces once they heard her southern accent. Rush loved and cared for Kathy deeply, even until her final days, and embraced Hart and Megan like his own. They spent many years traveling to exciting places like London, China, and Banff to name a few, but none more exciting to Kathy than her hometown of Brandon. When Rush retired in 2014, they moved back to Brandon to fully immerse themselves in the grandparent life and found immeasurable joy being involved in Madeleine and Mary Gilbert's daily life and activities. Mumsey loved being a grandmother and always had her house stocked with snacks, juice boxes, toys, and clothes. It's no surprise that both granddaughters took their first steps towards Mumsey, who was waiting for them with open arms. While Mumsey thought Hart and Megan were practically perfect, she knew Madeleine and Mary Gilbert really were perfect. Many days were spent outside watching the girls play in the same yard and playhouse where Mumsey herself played as a child. Kathy said she got all she ever wanted in life by living on these few acres in Brandon with Rush, next door to her girls and her beloved cousin Glenda Vinson.



Mumsey was a rule-follower at heart; after all she was raised by Hayes and Fannie Merle. She inherited the Graves gene of being able to build, fix, or put together anything. She told her girls frequently that Jesus and Mumsey will always love you. Mumsey visited the beauty shop twice a week and found great joy in her beauty shop friendships, especially with her loyal and dedicated hairstylists Julie Welch and Katie Korba. Mumsey enjoyed black coffee, Diet Coke, mimosas (minus the orange juice), Hershey kisses, and any kind of cake or cookie. She listened to Lorrie Morgan's "Something in Red" cassette tape until it broke and read People magazine every week. She taught Hart and Megan the importance of volunteering to bring paper products for parties and always had a spare straw, spoon, or Kleenex in her car. She was stubborn and tough as nails which served her well in 2012 as she fought her way back from a traumatic brain injury and defied the odds to become a "Mumsey Miracle." Mumsey raised her girls on love, Designing Women, Southern Baptist hymns, prayers, and laughter. She made everything beautiful, whether it was her perfectly wrapped gifts with handmade bows or an outfit she bought for her granddaughters. She correctly predicted Hart and Megan would be best friends someday. She could curl her girls' hair with pink sponge rollers like it was her job. She celebrated both big and small things and always started family member birthdays with a celebration so they never had to go through the day wondering if anyone remembered their special day. She faithfully filled and refilled water bottles, washed red dirt out of softball uniforms, quietly clapped at tennis matches, and advocated for women's sports to receive the same basic resources as men's sports. She loved the gift shop section of funny and slightly inappropriate napkins and greeting cards. She always had a book with her and enjoyed word puzzles and proofreading any kind of text; in fact, this obituary is probably riddled with typos because she was not here to proof it. She attracted strangers and conversations no matter where she went and sometimes gave two or three birthday cards because she couldn't decide which one she liked best. She adored anything sparkly and channeled Carol Burnett on Sundays in the church choir by tugging on her ear once she spotted her girls in the congregation. Mumsey loved her church families over the years: First Baptist Church of Brandon, Brandon Baptist Church, and Northminster Baptist Church. Her favorite book was "The Hundred Dresses" and fully embraced its theme of kindness and inclusion while teaching her girls to do the same. In her later years, her life's motto became former pastor Rev. Dr. Chuck Poole's guidance to "stand up for and sit down with those whom Jesus would stand up for and sit down with."



Mumsey made the best fudge, bought 10 of something in every color if she liked it, and always had a basket of blankets for friends to use when they came over to her 68-degree house. Mumsey wiped her girls' tears, held their hands even as adults, encouraged them in any endeavor, cheered them on louder than anyone, rocked both her daughters and granddaughters to sleep while singing "Bringing in the Sheaves," and never missed an opportunity to tell those she loved just how loved they were. She was, quite simply, the best Mumsey in the world.



Kathy's absence will be felt deeply by all who knew and loved her but especially: husband Rush Miller; daughters Hart Wylie and Megan Wylie; granddaughters Madeleine Wylie and Mary Gilbert Wylie; brother Gib Graves (Allyn); nieces and nephews John Graves (Sallie), Will Graves (Ashley), Katie Graves Kotopka (Ryan), Ginny Graves Roth (Jim); Pittsburgh family Ed, Kendra, and Miriam Miller; many cousins and great nieces and nephews she loved dearly; and all of her Home Team. Kathy was preceded in death by her parents Hayes and Fannie Merle Graves.



The family wishes to express their gratitude for those who loved and cared for Mumsey during her brief illness including Chrissy Fortenberry; Northminster Baptist Church pastors Scott Dickison, Lesley Ratcliff, and Marty Harper; the staff at Methodist Rehabilitation Center; and Traditions Health, especially Mary Hart and Ashley Jones.



Services will be held at Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson on Saturday, January 4. Visitation will be at 10:00 am followed by the funeral at 11:00 am.