Annie Katherine Dunn Mitchem passed away on Aug. 28 at the age of 103. She was born on May 24, 1911 in Barnesville, Ga., to C.M. and Annie Howard Dunn. She grew up in Barnesville and was very active in the First Baptist Church. She later attended Ward Belmont College in Nashville, Tenn. She eventually moved to Norman, Okla., where she attended the University of Oklahoma and majored in art. After college she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked on the staff of Sen. Hattie W. Caraway of Arkansas. Working on the staff she met, and subsequently married, Paul B. Pendleton in February of 1935. She continued her government work in both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Housing Authority. After the arrival of daughter Patricia Ann, the family moved to Birmingham, Ala., and New Orleans, La., eventually residing in Little Rock, Ark. They subsequently divorced and Katherine moved to West Palm Beach, Fla., where she worked successfully for many years as a legal secretary. This became her profession, including a two-year legal assistance position at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Col. She married George Mitchem in July 1966. They were happily married and resided in Maitland, Fla. She was very active in the gardening community, serving as president of the Orasem Garden Club and two terms as president of the Maitland Garden Club. She eventually earned a master’s degree in landscape design. In 1986, the couple moved to Altamonte Springs, where they lived happily until George’s death in 2005. Katherine continued to live in the condo and died peacefully. She is survived by her daughter, Patricia; grandchildren, Patrick Meyers, Gigi Meyers Korosec and Lara Meyers Derr; as well as great-grandchildren Sarah and Stephanie Meyers, Madeline and Jack Korosec and Noah Riggenbach.
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