MCWHORTER News
April 24, 2024
The McWhorter Clan will have its 97th annual gathering at noon on Sunday, July 28th, 2024, as is the custom to meet on the Fourth Sunday of every July.
This will occur at the McWhorter United Methodist Church, beginning with a dinner prepared by church volunteers, followed by a short business meeting.
For more information and updates
http://mcwhorterclanwv.com/
This will occur at the McWhorter United Methodist Church, beginning with a dinner prepared by church volunteers, followed by a short business meeting.
For more information and updates
http://mcwhorterclanwv.com/
Or visit our Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/people/Mcwhorterclanwv/100088918943949
The morning before the official gathering on Saturday at 10am, family and guests may choose to meet at the Hacker's Creek Pioneers Descendants Library (Stop 1 on self-guided tour). Coffee and refreshments will be provided.
Saturday evening, a bonfire will be held at the Davisson Homestead (Stop 6) starting around 5pm.
The tour guide may be downloaded here:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ks0qk1pulvf5f0ywth2jg/2024-Driving-Tour-Directions_2024.pdf?rlkey=37ocipsqxaxmkl6r7zdtvxwpd&st=rix21d5f&dl=0
Here are some things that you should be thinking about:
- Are you planning to attend? Please let me know if you are planning to attend the Library gathering that Saturday, the bonfire Saturday evening, and/or the reunion on Sunday. This will help us to prepare.
- It is an election year for the McWhorter Clan. Nominations for President, Vice-President, and Secretary will be taken and then voted on. My presidential term is up and I'm running again. Cathy Weber will not be seeking re-election as Secretary.
- If you haven't heard, our Vice-President, Eliza McWhorter has recently passed away. She will be missed and I feel privileged to have gotten to know her while serving with her.
- During the business meeting, there will be a "show and tell session". Do you have a talent? Did you create something? Are you learning something new? Is there anything you're passionate about that you'd like to share, maybe with a poster or a talk? There is a piano there. Cathy may present a mini-scale model of a house that means a lot to her. I'm learning to play the ukulele. It doesn't have to be McWhorter related. I'm just interested in what make us tick.
McWhorters are innovative, creative, and at times, cantankerous. I encourage you to share the first two of those traits with the rest of the family this summer!
October 10, 2023
Leaders of the McWhorter Clan Reunion meet to discuss next year's events. A preliminary schedule includes a Friday evening get together, a regional tour of McWhorter related landmarks, and the annual business meeting that follows lunch at the McWhorter UMC.
May 10, 2023
Kate Jacques, driving force behind recent McWhorter reunions, passes away.
Kathryn Ann Jacques was born June 26, 1954, in Topeka, Kansas, the first of three children. Her family lived variously in Topeka, Abilene, Hutchinson, and finally settled in Salina, Kansas. After high school, Kate went to the University of Kansas in Lawrence where she gave up the childhood name of Kathy and became Kate, the nom de guerre she would use for the rest of adult life.
Kate left KU with a general studies bachelor's degree, and then went to Kansas State University. where she studied animal nutrition. She ended up with a master's degree and then a PhD in animal nutrition after publishing her doctoral thesis titled "The estimation of bovine saliva production with soluble rumen markers and the effect of buffering compounds in forage sorghum silage-based diets" in 1985. After that, her family didn't ask too many questions about her work, referring to it in general terms as research in animal nutrition. While at K-State, Kate met her partner of 37 years, later to become her spouse, Kim Jordan, who was finishing her own master's degree in animal nutrition.
Newly credentialed, Kate accepted a position with what was then a rather new, start-up company called Alltech, based in Kentucky. The professional relationship was beneficial for both Kate and the company and she worked with them as Director of Nutrition for her entire career until finally retiring in 2019. The company underwent phenomenal growth over the years and Kate grew with it, traveling the world, speaking at conferences, and editing an annual compendium of research papers. She made many lasting friends in her professional life and travels.
Kate had many and varied interests throughout her life, apart from her career, and she made many friends who knew her only through those shared interests. She was an early adherent to and active participant in geocaching (google that one if you have the time). She had a long-
standing interest in genealogy, including doing the groundwork of searching cemeteries for individual graves to aid others in searching their own family history. She created a map and index of the graves in the cemetery in Delphos, Kansas, where much of her maternal family is buried. She cleaned and conserved many gravestones in multiple cemeteries she visited and even purchased and placed stones for some unmarked graves in Delphos. Researching her father's family history got her involved with a group of distant relatives in West Virginia and she helped them with their local cemetery as well. After retiring, Kate even dabbled in the world of ham radio for a while. She had recently acquired a new RV with plans to use it as a home base as she explored her local area as well as state and national parks, continuing a life-long family tradition of camping.
Everyone who knew Kate had their own version of Kate, depending on how and when their paths crossed. It could have been in their shared professional world or tramping through an overgrown cemetery in the middle of nowhere looking for lost relatives. She retained a group of close friends from her early college days and had friends she knew from kayaking the rivers in Kentucky while hunting for an elusive geocache.
Kate had a history of seizure disorders that ultimately caused her death on May 1, 2023. Kate's parents, Robert L. and Shirley J. (Allison) Jacques, both preceded her in death.
She is survived by her spouse, Kim Jordan of Lawrenceburg, KY, and her extended family including Judy Jordan in Kansas, Gracie Jordan in Oklahoma, Terry Jordan (Jill) in Kansas, Austin Jordan (Cydnee) in Florida, Kaitlyn Jordan in Oklahoma, as well as three nieces, a nephew, five great-nieces, and two great nephews.
Kate had two siblings: Paula Jacques (Patrick Cirillo) in Montana, and Brent Jacques (Clay Hysell) in Virginia as well a niece, Melissa Hance (Blake), and nephew, Matt Cirillo (Kelsey Eckhardt), both in Montana.
A casual evening celebration of all things Kate will be held on May 17, 2023, 5:00 - 9:00 p.m., in the patio garden of the Sage Garden Café at Wilson Nurseries, 3690 East West Connector, Frankfort, KY. Interment will be at the Delphos Cemetery in Kansas at 2:00 p.m. on May 27, 2023.
Kate's family suggests memorial contributions to the Anderson Humane Society, PO Box 494, Lawrenceburg, KY 40342. Arrangements by Ritchie & Peach Funeral Home, Lawrenceburg, KY.