- Date Of Birth: May 26, 1913
- Date Of Death: July 14, 2016
- State: North Carolina
Katie “Mama Kit” S. Poole, 103, died Thursday, July 14, 2016 at The Haven Family Care Homes in Raleigh, NC from complications related to progressive dementia. In hospice care just days prior to her death, Mama Kit died peacefully in her sleep.
Born the younger of two siblings to Phyliscus H. and Roxie Brown Gray on May 26, 1913 in Jonesboro, North Carolina, Katie Elizabeth Gray had two sisters: full sibling, Vivian and a beloved maternal sibling, Robert (Bobbie) Harrington.
After completing primary and grade schools at Crosby Garfield School and Washington High School in Raleigh she enrolled in Fayetteville State University and later transferred to Shaw University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education. She pursued post graduate studies at Winston Salem Teachers College and North Carolina Central College.
Her professional life began as a teacher in Cherryville, NC where she met Hyland G. Sullivan, a fellow educator and coach in the Cherryville School System. They were married in 1939 in Raleigh, NC and later established residence in Lexington, NC where they were blessed with five children: Hyland Garnett Sullivan, Jr. (Sarah), (Baby Brother) Sullivan, Barbara Omar Sullivan Robinson (Melvin – deceased), Gaylord LaRraine Sullivan Black (Henry) and Dwight Gray Sullivan (Cheryl).
In addition to teaching at Cherryville, Katie taught at several other North Carolina towns including: Selma, Pinehurst, Ramseur, Randelman and retired from Brentwood Elementary in Raleigh in 1979. She was chosen to be the first African American teacher to intergrate Randelman Elementary School.
She was a longtime member of Davie Street United Presbyterian Church where she was elected as Elder and served on the Session and was a member of Circle Two. Some of her many affiliations included The Prestige Club of Retired Personnel, North Carolina Association of Educators, Duo Decum Pinochle Club, National Education Association, and a lifetime member of Omicron Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
She is survived by three of her children Barbara, Gaylord, and Dwight, six grandchildren: Sherrill Sullivan Banks, Chris and Damian Robinson, Tiffany Robinson Stewart, Kyle and Brandon Black, 17 great grandchildren, five great-great grandchildren, and a host of other relatives. She was preceded in death by Hyland, Sr., her beloved husband for 34 years, sons (Baby Brother) Sullivan and Hyland, Jr., grandson Melvin Robinson, Jr., sisters Vivian and Bobbie, and John W. Poole, husband from her second marriage.
