Kathryn Poston

Entered into eternal rest on the morning of December 31, 2009, Alberta Kathryn Hughett Poston, 90, of Brookdale Place, Charlotte, North Carolina, formerly of Bluefield, WV. Born in Bluefield on June 13, 1919, she was the daughter of Albert P. Hughett and Cinda Ball Hughett. Her parents were Virginia natives, who had moved to Bluefield in its expanding heyday just after 1900. On her maternal side she came from a family that had been settled in Virginia since 1650, and who left their farm in Fairfax County to resettle in Southwest Virginia in 1792. She grew up with one older brother, Alexander Hughett, who preceded her in death in 1989. Her fond memories of her childhood neighborhood with playmates that included the late Congressman James Kee, Judge Howard Jarrett, and World War Two fighter pilot, Fuzzy Moore entertained her children and grandchildren, as did her recollections of summers with family members on their farms in Ohio and Virginia. In her youth she was an adept tennis player, excellent dancer, and a woman locally admired for her attractiveness, her interest in literature, and her sweet demeanor. With the sudden death of her father in 1937, she eventually had to leave Bluefield College to take a secretarial position in Parkersburg, WV and help support her family. At a picnic in 1942 she met her future husband, William Karnes Poston of nearby Princeton, WV and they were married, soon after he completed Officers Candidate School, in the chapel at Camp Carson, Colorado, in November 1943. She worked briefly during Lieutenant Poston's army stints at Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia, and at Camp Butner, Durham, North Carolina. When Lieutenant Poston of the 89th Army, Infantry Division, was assigned to combat duty in Belgium and Germany immediately after D-Day, she returned to Bluefield and worked in the offices of Appalachian Power Company . When Lieutenant Poston returned in 1946, having received two bronze stars, they resettled into civilian life, first in Princeton and then moved to Bluefield. They had three sons: Albert, in 1947, who died within a few days of his birth, William Karnes Poston, Jr, in 1952, and Jonathan Hughett Poston in 1954. A devoted mother, she was also active in various church and civic organizations to include the McGuffey Book Club, which she served as President. She returned to Bluefield College in 1962 and later completed her BA in early childhood Education at Bluefield State College. Kathryn became an elementary school teacher and held various posts at schools in Bramwell and Brushfork and finally near her home at Memorial School, prior to her retirement in the mid-1980s. She completed further studies in reading, childhood education, and educational psychology and received her Masters degree from Marshall University in 1980. She continued the coursework toward a PhD, when the illness of her husband prevented its completion. Kathryn continued to be active in her book club and Delta Kappa Gamma educational honorary society, while serving on the Bluefield Cemetery Commission. She was a member of Fincastle Country Club and served on several committees at her church, Bland Street United Methodist, prior to moving to Charlotte in 2005 to live at Brookdale Place. Mrs. Poston is survived by her son Dr. William Karnes Poston, Jr. and wife Pamela Dailey Poston of Weddington, NC and son Jonathan Hughett Poston formerly of Charleston, SC and now of Fort Worth, Texas, one grandson William K. Poston, III of Los Angeles, California, and one granddaughter, Amanda Blythe Poston of New York, New York, and one neice. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8pm at Mercer Funeral Home in Bluefield, WV on Monday evening, January 4th. Funeral Services will be conducted at Bland Street United Methodist Church in Bluefield, on Tuesday, January 5 at 11 am, with burial following in the Poston plot in Resthaven Cemetery in Princeton, WV.