After 84 years filled with love, generosity, and faith, Ola Kate “Katie” Wells, 84, of Sheridan, Arkansas, passed away peacefully at home on February 20, surrounded by her family.

She was born in Nashville, Arkansas, on May 11, 1941, to Homer and Hazel Northum, and grew up on the Lone Maple Farm. She loved sharing memories of life on the farm, including cold nights without central heat and the days before indoor plumbing. Katie graduated from Nashville High School in Nashville, Arkansas, in 1959. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Henderson University in Arkadelphia. After graduating from Henderson, she taught for one year in Sheridan, then went to the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, where she obtained her Master of Library Science.

It was during her first year in Sheridan in 1962, that Katie met her beloved Henry. Although school and jobs separated them for a short time, they stayed connected. Their relationship continued to grow stronger, and they were married at the First United Methodist Church in Nashville on June 12, 1965, and they began their life together in Shreveport, Louisiana. They moved back to Sheridan in 1967, when Katie took a job as the high school librarian, and in 1972 they bought a home less than a mile from where they first met, where they would spend the rest of their lives.

Katie and Henry were blessed with one child, Ryan Edward Wells, and nothing was more important to her until her granddaughters came along.

Though she loved being a librarian and sharing books and movies with her friends, Katie’s favorite role later in life was being a grandparent to Gwendolyn Grace and Fionella Hope. She treasured her time with her granddaughters and loved hearing them laugh and watching them play. Her favorite daily activities were looking at pictures and videos of them and sharing video calls with them—and, of course, bragging about them to anyone who’d listen.

Katie and her friends were like family to one another. From church and school to movie and book clubs, they loved sharing life, joys, and interests with one another.

Katie was proud of her 36 years as a teacher and librarian at Sheridan High School. She was delighted that “her library” was a sanctuary and safe place, and she adopted many “library kids” throughout the years. She once remarked that she probably shouldn’t let kids hang out in the library as much as she did, but she knew for some of them it was the only place they felt a sense of safety and belonging, and she was grateful she could provide that for them. She felt like every student who came into the library was hers, and she loved guiding them through research papers and other projects. She also started the first AV club at SHS in the early days of VCRs and home camcorders. And through years as a senior class sponsor, she oversaw plays, floats, graduation line-ups, and other senior rites of passage, and she was always proud to see her students walk across the field at graduation. She finally decided to retire in 2003, after 36 years, when she realized grandchildren of her very first students would be entering high school the following year, saying “two full generations is enough!”

Katie was an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Sheridan, where she was one of the teachers for the Jack Williams Sunday school class, participated in United Methodist Women (later United Women in Faith) and night circles, and chaperoned an unexpectedly exciting United Methodist Youth trip to St. Louis. She served multiple terms as the Pack Committee Chair for Cub Scout Pack 237, and loved being one of the troop moms for Boy Scout Troop 316, including a long drive to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. She was also a member of the Grant County Retired Teachers, Delta Kappa Gamma, and Tri Sigma sorority.

Everyone who knew Katie knew how much she loved reading, jigsaw puzzles, and watching the birds in her backyard, often simultaneously and usually while sipping from seasonal bird coffee mugs.

Her friends and family couldn’t have asked for a better spouse, parent, grandparent, teacher, friend, and colleague, and we will all miss Katie every day. Her memory will live on in the hearts of all those who knew her.

Katie was preceded in death by her parents Homer and Hazel Northum and aunt Naida Tyndall, brother-in-law Jerry Crutchfield, sister-in-law Jan Northum, and numerous other aunts, uncles, and cousins. She is survived by husband Henry Wells, son Ryan and his wife, Heather Marie Wells, and her granddaughters Gwendolyn and Fionella Wells; her siblings Walker Northum, Jim and Debbie Northum, Mary and Bill Webb, Thelma Crutchfield, Norma and Gerald Winston, and numerous nephews and nieces.

There will be a visitation at Memorial Gardens on Tuesday, February 24, from 5-7 p.m. A funeral service will be held at First United Methodist Church in Sheridan, Arkansas, at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25, with a graveside service to follow at Philadelphia Cemetery, Prattsville, Arkansas.

Pallbearers are Dale Crutchfield, Eric Petty, Nathan Petty, Jess Northum, John Ashley, and Jase Goins. Honorary pallbearers are Larry & Luz Maria Benning, Raymond & Royce Stoker, James & Shari Rae, Jim & Betty Lancaster, Richard & Susan Bradford, and Quinn Ashley.

In honor of her love of church, libraries, books, and children, memorial gifts may be made to First United Methodist Church in Sheridan, the Grant County Library, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (donate.imaginationlibrary.com).