Descendants of Tullie Epkin McKee
Generation No. 1
1. Tullie Epkin3 McKee (Andrew Logan (Mims)2, Unknown1 Mims) was born October 26, 1882 in Popular Springs, Laurens County, South Carolina, and died September 05, 1957 in Mills Springs, Polk County, North Carolina. He married Maggie Drucille Freeman July 05, 1903 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, daughter of F. Freeman and Lettie Dixon. She was born March 09, 1883 in Woodruff, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, and died October 07, 1965 in Mills Springs, Polk County, North Carolina.
Notes for Tullie Epkin McKee:
TULLIE MCKEE-GREENVILLE NEWS
MILL SPRING, NC; SEPT. 7-TULLIE MCKEE, 74, OF RT. 2, MILL SPRING, DIED THURSDAY NIGHT AT ST. LUKE’S HOSPITAL AFTER A BRIEF ILLNESS.
MR. MCKEE WAS SUPERINTENDENT OF TURNER SHOALS POWER PLANT FRON 1925 UNTIL 1952 WHEN HE RETIRED. HE SERVED AS A DEACON AND CLERK OF MILL SPRING BAPTIST CHURCH AND WAS A SON OF THE LATE ANDREW AND MARY JANE PUCKETT MCKEE. HE HAD LIVED IN POLK COUNTY FOR 32 YEARS.
SURVIVING ARE HIS WIFE, MRS. MAGGIE FREEMAN MCKEE; FOUR SONS, PAUL MCKEE OF DURHAM; ESTON MCKEE OF CHARLOTTE, BROADUS MCKEE AND WOODROW MCKEE, BOTH OF MILL SPRING; A DAUGHTER, MRS. YATES WALKER OF DALLAS, NC; FOUR SISTERS, MRS. SAM WORKMAN OF SPARTANBURG, MRS. LIZZIE HILL OF LAURENS, SC; MRS. MILLIE PACK OF GREENSBORO AND MRS. J.C. THOMAS OF DANVILLE, VA.; A BROTHER, JODY MCKEE OF LAURENS, SC; SEVEN GRANDHCILDREN AND FIVE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.
FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE CONDUCTED SUNDAY AT 3 PM AT MILL SPRING BAPTIST CHURCH BY THE REV. W. C. KELLER AND THE REV. A. C. MARTIN. BURIAL WILL BE IN POLK MEMORIAL GARDENS IN TRYON.
NEWPHEWS WILL BE PALLBEARERS; BRUCE, ROYCE, ALLEN, E.L., JODY, AND MAXWELL MCKEE.
THE BODY IS AT THE HOME. IT WILL BE TAKEN TO THE CHURCH SUNDAY. MCFARLAND OF TRYON IS IN CHARGE.
The Tryon Daily Bulletin Mon., Sept. 9th, 1957 Obituary
T. E. McKee
Tullie E. McKee, 74, retired Duke Power Co. Plant superintendent, died Thursday at 9:45 pm at St. Luke’s Hospital. He had been in declining health for some time.
Funeral services were held Sunday at 3 pm at Mill Spring Baptist Church with the pastor, the Rev. W. C. Keller, officiating assisted by the Rev. A. C. Martin. Burial was in the Baptist Church cemetery. McFarland Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
A native of Laurens, SC., Mr. McKee had been a steam and hydro plant engineer for 43 years.
Mr. McKee had been superintendent of the Duke Power plant at Turner Shoals from 1925 to 1952 when he retired. During his stay in Polk County he was a Mason and leader in the Baptist Church, school affairs and the Democratic Party. At one time he had been a Columbus bank director and also on the board of directors of the M&J Finance Corp.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Maggie Freeman McKee; four sons, Paul McKee of Durham, Eston, of Charlotte; Broadus and Woodrow, of Mill Spring; and one daughter, Mrs. E. H. Walker of Dallas, NC; four sisters, Mrs. Sam Wilson; Spartanburg; Mrs. Lizzie Hill, Laurens, Sc.; Mrs. Minnie Patton, Greenville and Mrs. J. C. Thomas, Danville, Va; also one brother, Jody McKee of Laurens; seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers were nephews: Bruce, Royce, Allen, and E. L. McKee, Jody and Maxwell Wilson. Honorary pallbearers were members of the board of deacons.
Notes for Maggie Drucille Freeman:
Tyron Daily Bulletin
Mrs. Maggie Freeman McKee, widow of T. E. McKee of Mill Spring RFD, died Wednesday night at a Rutherford County Nursing Home.
McFarland Funeral Chapel is Tryon is in charge of arrangements. Burial will be in Polk Memorial Garden besides her husband who died several years ago.
Among the survivors are sons, Paul McKee of Durham; Eston of Charlotte. Broadus and Woodrow McKee of Mill Spring; and one daughter, Mrs. Yates Walker of Dallas, NC.
Mrs. T. E. McKee
Funeral services for Mrs. T. E. McKee 82 of Mill Spring, Rt 2 who died Thursday were held Sunday at 3pm at Mill Spring Baptist Church with Rev. Robert Rownd and Rev. Robert A. Brooks officiating. Burial will be in Polk Memorial Gardens. She is survived by one daughter, four sons, seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Children of Tullie McKee and Maggie Freeman are:
2 i. Paul Epkin4 McKee, born May 24, 1904; died December 12, 1987 in Durham, North Carolina. He married Hazel Cole June 1929; born April 23, 1906; died May 29, 2004 in Orange County, North Carolina.
+ 3 ii. Broadus Marion McKee, born May 28, 1906 in Laurens County, South Carolina; died June 11, 1984 in Mills Springs, Polk County, North Carolina.
4 iii. Eston Eugene McKee, born June 19, 1908 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina; died October 1967 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He married Nellie Walker; born September 23, 1907 in North Carolina; died February 26, 1981 in Polk County, North Carolina.
Notes for Eston Eugene McKee:
The Tryon Daily Bulletin Friday, October 20, 1967 Obituary
E. E. McKee
Eston Eugene McKee, 59, son of the late T. E. and Maggie Freeman McKee of Polk County, died Wednesday in a Charlotte Hospital.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Nellie Walker McKee of 3625 Commonwealth Ave., Charlotte; one sister, Mrs. Maggie Walker of Dallas, NC; 3 brothers, Paul McKee of Durham, and Broadus and Woodrow McKee of Rt. 2, Mill Spring.
Graveside services will be held Friday [today] at 3:30 pm in Polk Memorial Gardens, with the Rev. Joe Burnett officiating.
McEwen Funeral Home of Charlotte in charge of arrangements.
+ 5 iv. Maggie Myrtle McKee, born July 26, 1910 in Blacksburg, Cherokee County, South Carolina; died October 15, 1998 in Dallas, Gaston County, North Carolina.
+ 6 v. Woodrow Winston McKee, born September 18, 1912 in Ninety-Nine Island, Cherokee County, South Carolina; died November 14, 1986 in Mills Springs, Polk County, North Carolina.
Generation No. 2
3. Broadus Marion4 McKee (Tullie Epkin3, Andrew Logan (Mims)2, Unknown1 Mims) was born May 28, 1906 in Laurens County, South Carolina, and died June 11, 1984 in Mills Springs, Polk County, North Carolina. He married Leona Lynch November 1926. She was born January 04, 1910, and died January 11, 1991 in Mills Springs, Polk County, North Carolina.
Notes for Broadus Marion McKee:
The Tryon Daily Bulletin Tues., June 12, 1984 Obituary
Broadus M. McKee
Broadus Marion McKee, 78, husband of Leona Lynch McKee, of Route 2, Mill Spring, died Monday morning in Charlotte. Born in Spartanburg County he was the son of the late T. E. and Maggie Freeman McKee. He had retired from duke Power Co. and was a member of the Mill Spring First Baptist Church.
Surviving beside his wife are: one daughter, Mrs. Betty Sutton of Charlotte two brothers, Paul McKee of Durham and Woodrow McKee of Mill Spring; one sister, Mrs. Maggie Walker of Dallas, NC; also three grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 3 pm Tuesday [today] at Mill Spring First Baptist Church.
Burial will be in the church cemetery.
McFarland Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
5. Maggie Myrtle4 McKee (Tullie Epkin3, Andrew Logan (Mims)2, Unknown1 Mims) was born July 26, 1910 in Blacksburg, Cherokee County, South Carolina, and died October 15, 1998 in Dallas, Gaston County, North Carolina. She married Yates Franklin Walker October 05, 1935 in Columbus, Polk County, North Carolina, son of William Walker and Sally Arledge. He was born June 16, 1911, and died January 25, 1983 in Dallas, Gaston County, North Carolina.
Notes for Yates Franklin Walker:
The Tryon Daily Bulletin Fri., Jan. 28, 1983 Obituary
Yates Walker
Yates Franklin Walker, Sr., 71, husband of Maggie McKee Walker of Dallas, NC., died Tuesday in a Gastonia Hospital.
A native of Polk County, he was a son of the late William Martin and Sally Arledge Walker. He was a retired textile employee and a member of Mill Spring Baptist Church, Shriners Oasis Temple of Charlotte and Woodmen of the World.
Also surviving are: son, Yates Franklin Walker, Jr. of Dallas; daughters, Mrs. Ellen Rogers of Charlotte, Mrs. Nellie Rush of Dallas; brother, William Martin Walker of The Dalles, Ore., Frederick Walker of Lakeland, Fla.; Britt and John Paul Walker of Mill Spring; Thomas Walker of Shingle Springs, Calif; sisters, Mrs. Patricia Edwards of Hendersonville, Mrs. Ethel Barton and Mrs. Annie Lola Littlefield of Landrum nine grandchildren.
Services will be held Friday at 2 pm at Dallas Funeral Chapel with burial in Gaston Memorial Park.
6. Woodrow Winston4 McKee (Tullie Epkin3, Andrew Logan (Mims)2, Unknown1 Mims) was born September 18, 1912 in Ninety-Nine Island, Cherokee County, South Carolina, and died November 14, 1986 in Mills Springs, Polk County, North Carolina. He married Gertie Mae Gilbert June 03, 1934 in Mill Springs, Polk County, North Carolina, daughter of Martin Gilbert and Ocie Williams. She was born December 30, 1915 in Polk County, North Carolina, and died February 19, 1990 in Mills Springs, Polk County, North Carolina.
Notes for Woodrow Winston McKee:
The Tryon Daily Bulletin Tues., Nov. 18, 1986 Obituary
Woodrow W. McKee
Woodrow Winston McKee, 74, husband of Gertie Mae Gilbert McKee of 688 NC North, died Friday in St. Luke’s Hospital.
A native of Ninety-Nine Island, Cherokee County, SC., he had been a resident of Polk County for 60 years. He was a son of the late Tullie E. and Maggie Freeman McKee. He retired from Duke Power Co, after 42 years of service and was past president of the Hendersonville Duke Power Retirees. He was a newspaper carrier for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Asheville Citizen and Charlotte Observer for 28 years. He was a member of the Ruritan Club and Woodmen of the World. He was a deacon and Sunday School teacher at Mill Spring First Baptist Church.
Also surviving are: son, Robert Winston McKee of Columbus; daughters, Mrs. Shelba Jean Wilson of Columbus; Mrs. Juanita Mae Bruce of Edneyville; brother, Paul E. McKee of Durham; sisters, Mrs. Maggie M. Walker of Dallas, NC; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren
Services were held Monday at 2 pm at Mill Spring Baptist Church with the Rev. Dewey Price, Rev. Houston Moses officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Cystic Fibrosis, c/o NCNB, PO Box 1000. Tryon, NC 28782.
McFarland Funeral Chapel was in charge of arrangements.
The McKee Family
Woodrow Winston McKee was born Sept. 18, 1912 at home at Southern Power Company’s ninety-Nine Islands plant at which his father, Tullie E. McKee, was employed. His mother was Maggie D. Freeman McKee and there were three brothers and one sister before him; Paul E., age eight; Broadus M.; age six; Eston E., age four; and Maggie M.; age two.
Tullie McKee was employed by Southern Power Company as one of the first employees when the company was established in 1904, and he was transferred very often to new plants as they were built.
The family moved to Polk County on Sunday, Nov. 1, 1925, a rainy and chilly day with some fog, but they were well pleased and thrilled with the country. The home was heated with a coal grate in the living room and a wood cook-stove in the kitchen.
Woodrow, Maggie, and Eston entered Mill Spring School, which at the time went through the tenth grade. For the first time the children rode a school bus to and from school, three miles away. The roads were very rough, muddy and rutted. In the winter while the muddy ruts were frozen the bus driver could let the steering wheel slide through his hands and the ruts would steer the bus most of the three miles.
The family also attended church at the Mill Spring Baptist Church [then the White Oak Baptist Church]. The children attended Mill Spring School until they had to transfer to Stearns High School at Columbus, where they graduated with only eleven grades.
Broadus did not go to school but was employed with the plant construction crew, shaping up the grounds, etc., around the plant before taking a permanent job at the plant. Broadus in 1926 was married to Leona Lynch of Mill Spring, the first of the children to get married. Eston, after finishing high school, was employed at the plant as an operator, and he married Nellie Walker. After Maggie finished high school she entered Asheville Normal Teacher’s College.
Woodrow spent the summer months selling fish bait, renting boats and rowing boats for fishermen on Lake Adger and Green River. After Woodrow graduated from high school at Stearns, he entered North Carolina State College. But he was very unhappy away from the mountains and after the first semester he came home and went to Weaver College at Weaverville, NC for the term 1931-32 and 1932-33. After this he was employed at the Turner Shoals power plant as operator on Aug. 28, 1933.
On June 3, 1934 Woodrow married Gertie Mae Gilbert, the daughter of Martin H. Gilbert of Sunny View Community and they lived at the Turner Shoals Power Plant village.
Woodrow and Gertie Mae finally got their first car in 1937. Their first child, a son, Robert Winston, was born Aug. 27, 1938. Their second child, a daughter, Shelba Jean, was born April 6, 1940 and their third child, a daughter, Juanita Mae, was born Nov. 24. 1941. In 1943 Gertie Mae was employed at Adam Mills Hosiery Plant at Tryon where she worked for nearly 19 years. When Adams Mills Hosiery Plant closed Gertie Mae was employed by C. P. Clare at Fairview, where she worked in electronics.
The children entered school at Mill Spring and graduated from high school there. Son, Robert at age 17 was married Sept. 17, 1955, to Carolyn Amelia Scism of Shelby, NC. He became the father of four children, daughter Carla Donita, son Robert Winston, Jr; daughter Julia Gay and son Charles Patrick. He worked in textile for several years and was a deputy sheriff in Polk County for a period of time before returning to textiles. His home is in Columbus.
After completing high school Shelba Jean and Juanita both attended and graduated from Brevard Junior College in 1962. Shelba Jean later attended Western Carolina University. She was married to C. L. Wilson of Tryon on June 24, 1962; and their first son was born Aug. 8, 1962, but only lived two weeks; another son was born to them on May 11, 1966, and named Charles Eric Wilson. Shelba Jean later went back to school and graduated from Gardner-Webb College at Shelby and became a teacher at Stearns School in Columbus. She continued her education through Western Carolina University and obtained her master’s degree in education. She and her family live in the Peniel Community.
After Brevard College, Juanita worked at Bigelow-Sanford, Landrum, later returning to college and graduating from Carson-Newman in Tennessee in 1966. Next she went to Florida State University at Tallahassee where she received her master’s degree in social work in April, 1968. Afterwards she was employed by the Mental Health Clinic at Spartanburg for three years and then went to the V. A. Hospital at Oteen, NC; as a social worker. She was married Oct. 7, 1978 to Robert F. Bruce, Ph. D., and they live in Henderson County, NC.
Woodrow stayed with Duke Power at Turner Shoals until he retired April 30, 1976, after 42+ years. Gertie Mae at age 62 retired from C. P. Clare & Co. in April 1978, after 17 years. Woodrow and Gertie Mae, after retirement, are active in the Mill Spring Baptist Church, where Woodrow is a deacon and Gertie Mae a BTU teacher; they serve in any other capacities when they can help. They now have two great-grandchildren, and that is how it is with the McKee family as the Polk County History goes to press.
-Gertie Mae McKee
Notes for Gertie Mae Gilbert:
The Tryon Daily Bulletin Wed., Feb. 21, 1990 Obituary
Gertie Mae McKee
Gertie Mae Gilbert McKee, 74, of Highway 9 North, Mill Spring, NC died Feb. 19, 1990 at her home.
A native of Polk County, she was the widow of Woodrow W. McKee and daughter of the late Martin H. and Ocie Williams Gilbert. She was a member of Mill Spring First Baptist Church, where she was a member of the choir, served as Training Union Director and was a nursery keeper. She was retired from C. P. Clare Co. in Fairview.
Survivors include a son, Robert W. McKee of Columbus, NC; two daughters, Shelba Jean Wilson of Columbus and Juanita Bruce of Mill Spring; a sister, Georgie M. Walker of Mill Spring; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 4 pm today [Wed] at the Mill Spring First Baptist Church with Revs. Dewey Price and George Lynch officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
The family is at the home of Larry Wilson, Peniel Community, Columbus, NC.
Memorials may be made to Cystic Fibrosis, c/o NCNB, PO Box 1000. Tryon, NC 28782.
McFarland Funeral Chapel was in charge of arrangements.
MILL SPRING – Mrs. Gertie Mae Gilbert McKee , 74, C.P. Clare Co. of Fairview
retiree, died Feb. 19, 1990, at home. Funeral is 4 p.m. Wednesday at Mill
Spring First Baptist Church. Visitation is 7 to 8 tonight at McFarland Funeral Home, Tryon.
Survivors are her son, Robert McKee of Columbus, N.C.; daughters, Mrs.
Shelba Wilson of Columbus, Mrs. Juanita Bruce; sister, Mrs. Georgie Walker.
Memorials may be made to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, P.O. Box 639, Wilson,
N.C. 27894. The family is at the home of Larry Wilson, Peniel Community,
Columbus.
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