Dorothy Kathlyn (Kitty) Johnson Folmar of Goshen, Al. died Sunday, January 17, 2010 at her home.
Mrs. Kathlyn Folmar is survived by her daughters, Joyce Folmar of Goshen and Alice F. Kelley of Valley, AL. her son Roy (Shelia) Folmar of Goshen, a brother Clemmie J. Johnson of Goshen, three grandchildren Lisa Kelley of Auburn, AL. and Andrew Folmar and Rachel Folmar both of Goshen and the University of Alabama, sisters-in-law Velma F. Hightower of Luverne, Peggy B. Johnson of Little Rock, AK. and Ouida M. Johnson of Goshen, brother-in-law William Erastus “Bill” Folmar of Winter Park, FL. a special co3usin and fellow family historian Neil O. Myers of Aiken, SC., and many nieces, nephews, other cousins and friends.
Born August 21, 1924 in Pike County, AL. Mrs. Folmar was the daughter of the late John Irvin Johnson Sr. and Rubye Mae Myers Johnson of Henderson, AL.
She married Henry Wilbert “Bert” Folmar of Goshen, and they established their home and farm together at Goshen Hill, near the town of Goshen, when he returned from Naval service in WWII.
She was a devoted wife and mother, a homemaker, a vegetable gardener and preserver, and a helper of Bert with farm chores.
Known affectionately over the years a “Kitty” by family and friends, she loved and enjoyed her grandchildren, piecing and quilting quilts, cooking, garment and craft sewing, reading, flowers, her longtime companion and faithful dog “Beau” and her cats.
She was a good pianist and loved playing and listening to Baptist hymns.
She was a member of the Joquin Baptist Church in her younger adult years, and then later united with Goshen Baptist Church.
She was well known as a genealogist, and people from near and far came to her door to share research notes and learn from her.
Having no computer until her later years, she did most all her research by personal visits, phone and the U.S. mail.
She had a strong interest in the preservation of family history and treasures from the past.
She was involved in family research for herself and many others and authored five books of her own ancestry and that of her husband.
In recent years, she donated some of her files to the Troy Public Library for use by other researchers.
She spent hours copying inscriptions from tombstones and catalogued many cemeteries in a wide area in South Alabama.
This was inspired by her observation of deplorable conditions in cemeteries, where tombstones were crumbling from age or had been knocked down or broken.
She prepared her “Collection of Alabama Bible Records from Pike and Other Counties” after finding that so many family Bible records had been lost, burned, and thrown away.
“These in my book will be available at the library….”, she said.
As a member of the Pike County Historical and Genealogical Society for many years, she copied a number of County records and gave them to the Society for publication.
She had been a member of the Pike County chapters of Daughters of the American Revolution, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Daughters of the American Colonists.
She had participated in the Pike County Creative Writers and contributed to its publications and had served as a volunteer at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama in Troy.
She served on the Pike County Heritage Book Committee in 2000-2001.
Mrs. Folmar was preceded in death by her husband Henry Wilbert Folmar, their oldest daughter Dorothy Ann Folmar, two brothers John Irvin Johnson Jr. and Clyde Myers Johnson, her sisters Rosa J. Lott, Bertie-B J. Law, and Willie Mae J. Hill, and a brother George Dalton Johnson.
The family will receive friends a Dillard Funeral Home in Troy on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 from 5:00 pm until 7:00 pm.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 am Wednesday, January 20, 2010 from the chapel of Dillard Funeral Home in Troy with Reverends Orris Sanders and Mack King officiating pallbearers will be Tommy Horn, Brandon Nicholson Truman Johnson Forrest Lee, Malon Johnson and Elva Flowers Jr. Burial will follow in the family lot at Elam Cemetery near Goshen.
Flowers will be accepted, and memorials may be made to the Troy Public Library.
To sign our online register book Please visit our website at www.dillardfh.com.