| Sources |
- [S75] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume II, 1955-1973, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 24 Nov 1963.
Flora Ann Catlett obituary
- [S75] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume II, 1955-1973, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 28 Jan 1973.
Hubert Loyd Catlett obituary
- [S78] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume I, 1930-1954, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 17 Apr 1945.
Pvt. John R. Smelcer obituary
- [S74] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume IV, 1987-1999, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 24 Aug 1994.
Arthur Blaine Fain obituary
- [S27] The Daily Times, http://www.thedailytimes.com/, (Blount County, Tennessee), 4 Aug 2012.
Prayer, family, friends: These are the secrets of life for centenarian Georgia Belle Fain
By Jennie Bounds | Blount Memorial Hospital
Maryville resident Georgia Belle Fain shares her secrets of life: prayer, family and friends.
And those “secrets” were ever present as she celebrated her 100th birthday July 31 with family, friends and the good Lord. “Honey, I’ve not got off cloud nine yet,” Fain says, recalling one celebration among her senior community friends at Blount Memorial MorningView Village Senior Community. “Did you see me with my arms up in the air? Something raised my arms.”
That “something” Fain described was her love for the Lord and the music, which her neighborhood choir at MorningView Village, where she’s lived for the last five years, sang with party-goers on Monday. Choir leader Lois Currington said the songs — “The Lily of the Valley,” “Precious Memories” and “Blest Be the Tie,” among others — were specifically picked for the event because they were Fain’s favorites.
“If I had to choose one word to describe Georgia Belle, it’d be joy,” Currington said. “She always has a smile. She always has a twinkle in her eye.” Also obvious by the more than 85 people — including State Sen. Doug Overbey — who joined in her birthday celebration, she has a lot of friends, which Fain says are so important in life.
“You see these people in here?” Fain asked after blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. “They’re my friends. They’re wonderful.” Fain also asked that everyone in attendance hold up their hands if they were her friend. When a room full of hands reached for the ceiling, she smiled and said, “See, I told you.”
Long lives, hard work
One of those hands in the room belonged to Fain’s daughter, Sue Gurske of Florida, who had made the trip to Tennessee to celebrate with Mom. “This (advancing age) is all she’s known,” Gurske said. “Both her parents were in their 90s when they died.” Gurske also shared that Fain came from a family that was described as long-lived and hard working. “It’s unbelievable,” she added. “It’s been wonderful to have her much longer than I ever thought. She’s in good health and has an active mind, so it’s a Godsend.”
For Fain, who was born in Sevier County, the 100-year journey wasn’t an easy one. “When I was a young girl, I grew up poor,” Fain said. “But I didn’t know I was poor because everyone was in the same category at that time.” Fain met her first husband, John Russell Smelcer, and they had a son, Billy — or Bill as he likes to be called. Smelcer went off to war in the Infantry, leaving behind Fain and her then 5-year-old son.
“I was glued to the radio,” Fain said. “When they said the war had ended, I said, ‘Halleluiah, he’s coming home.’ But he didn’t.” It was two weeks after the end of the war before she learned of Smelcer’s fate.
“Did you know how brave I was? I said, ‘Well, I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to raise this little boy,’” she recalled. “I either have to buy me a home on the bus line or buy me a car.” Fain said the simplest thing to do would be to buy a home, but she didn’t have enough money. “My dad loaned me enough to buy one, and he didn’t charge me interest,” she said, adding that she handed over her government checks to him until the funds had been repaid. “My sister and her husband lived close by, and I knew she could take me to the grocery store or I could ride the city bus to town.”
And independence and strength followed Fain to her and her son’s new home. “We moved in, and I was up on the stool putting up drapes or something, and Billy was out playing. I called for him to come in and he said, ‘What do you want, Mom?’ I said for him to hand me a hammer,” she said. “He looked up at me and said, ‘Mother, why don’t you buy me a daddy?’ I asked what for. He said, ‘to help you.’” She said her son had obviously seen her brother-in-law helping her sister, and Billy must’ve wanted Fain to have the same help.
“But we made it through,” she said, adding that she was a widow for a long time. Until she met Frank Fain. She recalled talking with her former mother-in-law about the possibility of marrying this new man. “She said, ‘Georgia, I think that’d be a fine thing for you to do. I just hope he’ll be good to you and Billy.’ I knew then what kind of lady she was,” Fain said, adding that it was after that when she and Frank were married — and she became a mother to Sue, who’s mother had died during childbirth. “I’m the only mother that girl has ever know,” Fain said, with a smile, adding that both her children help her now, and that she couldn’t do it without them.
Independent lady
Gurske has tried to get Fain to move to Florida to be near her as she aged, but Fain says “absolutely not,” according to Gurske, who says she doesn’t want to go yet. “I’m a hillbilly, and I wouldn’t know anyone but them,” Fain said, adding that she’d miss her friends here. “I’m going to try to take care of myself as long as Georgia can wait on herself,” she says. “I just hope and pray I can keep my mind and if I can wait on myself, I can stay.”
Right now, Fain is doing well in caring for herself. “I live in the independent living section,” she said, adding that she does her own laundry and cooks for herself, only now eating one meal per day in the MorningView Village resident dining room. “My son and daughter thought I should have one good meal,” she said, adding that she enjoys seeing other men and women at lunchtime.
“I love to be out mixing and mingling,” she said, adding that she participates in activities at MorningView, too. “I like to play games, and I go to Bible study when I can,” Fain said. “A lot of these games that I play with the ladies are games I played when I was a little girl. But, the rules have changed.”
In talking about things changing, Fain says her plans for life haven’t changed because she’s turned 100. “It feels the same as it has for the last while. I don’t know how long the Lord will leave me here, but I guess I’ll just follow the routine.”
Fain also offers advice to younger generations, because there is a lot that has changed in the world in the last 100 years. “You have to keep on your toes in this world anymore. It’s not like it used to be.” Fain encourages younger generations to “live a clean life” and do the best they can do to serve Him.
“The Lord has been good to me,” she said. “It’s been no bed of roses, I’m going to tell the truth. But, when I feel I’ve done something wrong, I can go to the Lord.
“And I want to meet Him someday.”
- [S112] Census, 1920.
Name: Georgia B Cattlett
Residence: , Sevier, Tennessee
Estimated Birth Year: 1913
Age: 7
Birthplace: Tennessee
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Single
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Film Number: 1821762
Digital Folder Number: 4390948
Image Number: 00305
Sheet Number: 1
Household Gender Age Birthplace
SELF William P Cattlett M 43y Tennessee
WIFE Flora Cattlett F 40y Tennessee
SON Hubert Cattlett M 15y Tennessee
DAU Estella Cattlett F 12y Tennessee
SON Joseph L Cattlett M 10y Tennessee
DAU Georgia B Cattlett F 7y Tennessee
DAU Beula Cattlett F 4y Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1930.
Name: George Cattlett
Event: Census
Event Date: 1930
Event Place: District 07, Sevier, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Birthplace: Tennessee
Estimated Birth Year: 1912
Immigration Year:
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Enumeration District Number: 0009
Family Number: 129
Sheet Number and Letter: 6B
Line Number: 91
NARA Publication: T626, roll 2271
Film Number: 2342005
Digital Folder Number: 4547919
Image Number: 00775
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head W P Cattlett M 53 Tennessee
Wife T A Cattlett F 50 Tennessee
Son Joe Cattlett M 20 Tennessee
Daughter George Cattlett F 18 Tennessee
Daughter Beula Cattlett F 15 Tennessee
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 4 Sep 2014.
July 31, 1912 - September 4, 2014
Resided in Seymour, TN
Georgia Bell Fain, age 102, of Seymour, passed away Thursday, September 4, 2014. She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank Fain, parents, W.P. and Flora Catlett. Georgia was a member of Knob Creek Baptist Church, a loving wife, mother and grandmother.
Survivors:
Son and daughter-in-law: Bill and Willene Smelcer of Cumberland County.
Daughter and son-in-law: Sue and Bob Gurske of Santa Rosa, FL.
Grandchildren: Teresa (Ken) Hipshire, Tammy (Eddie) Keith, Tracie (Ric) Stone, Rusty (Stacy) Smelcer.
10 Great-grandchildren
8 Great-great-grandchildren
In Lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to: Knob Creek Baptist Church 959 N. Knob Creek Rd., Seymour, TN 37865
Funeral service 3 PM Sunday at Knob Creek Baptist Church with Rev. Terry Parton officiating. Interment will follow in Knob Creek Cemetery. The family will receive friends 1:30 PM to 3 PM Sunday at Knob Creek Baptist Church. Arrangements by Atchley Funeral Home, Seymour 122 Peacock Court, Seymour, TN 37865 (577-2807). (www.atchleyfuneralhome.com)
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Groom's Name: W. P. Catlett
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Flora Ann Roberts
Bride's Birth Date:
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age:
Marriage Date: 11 Sep 1897
Marriage Place: , Sevier, Tennessee
Groom's Father's Name:
Groom's Mother's Name:
Bride's Father's Name:
Bride's Mother's Name:
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M51968-4
System Origin: Tennessee-VR
Source Film Number: 969967
Reference Number: 2:2B66T34
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