Katie Jean Aycock Biggers (aka “Mama, Granmama and Gigi”) passed away surrounded by her family on April 5, 2023. Katie was 90 years old or as she laughingly said, “90 3/4 years old.” Katie was a native of Moultrie, Georgia and was the daughter of Richard Andrew Aycock, Sr. and Billye Elliott Aycock. She was married to the love of her life, Loy Banks Biggers, Jr., who predeceased her in 1979. She is survived by her children: Billye Ruth Biggers Harris, Elizabeth Biggers Towery and her husband, Chuck Towery, Katherine Biggers Matthews, Laurie Biggers Aldridge and her husband, Scott Aldridge, Grandchildren: William Tyler Harris and his wife, Zana Milak Harris, Elizabeth Ashley Price and her husband, William Eason Price IV, Kate Towery Watts and her husband, Chris Watts, Chip Towery and his wife, Darylanne Radford Towery, Megan Towery Stoudt and her husband, Tyler Stoudt, Maggie Katherine Aldridge, Jacob “Jake” Scott Aldridge and girlfriend, Jenna Tripp, Lucas “Luke” Banks Aldridge, Great-grandchildren: Eason Cooper Price, Addie Kathyrn Price, Ellie Ruth Price, Harper Elizabeth Towery, Harrison Thomas Towery, Owen Riley Watts, Emery Elizabeth Stoudt, and two more great-grandchildren making their premiere this summer, and her loving caregiver and friend, Tristan Pridgen. Her daughter, Suzanne Biggers and her brother, Richard Andrew Aycock, Jr. predeceased her. Katie attended Queens University in Charlotte NC and graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry and she completed post-graduate studies in Medical Technology at Watts College in Durham. She spent most of her career working at the Wayne County Health Department in Goldsboro, and “officially” retired in 1996 but continued to work there on her own terms until the age of 79. Lab work and science were her passion. Her husband, Loy worked at Wayne County Memorial Hospital and supper discussions often contained intellectual discussions of blood work, test results, and other biological and chemical related topics. …. perfectly paired with chicken or macaroni and young children….

Katie was a published author of a book of poetry. She was a talented poetry author and the book contained a lifetime of poems. She had worked on the poetry book for years and it was her greatest wish to publish it. After many attempts by multiple family members, the book was finished last month. Her latest poem was written a few weeks ago about a flicker woodpecker at her window side feeder. She was also an author of a children’s story book illustrated by her daughter, Elizabeth. Katie loved nature, gardens and the sky…… The night sky was one of her other passions. She often woke her not-quite-as-excited children from their sleepy slumber during the predawn hours to show them comets, constellations, falling stars and eclipses. She was amazed with the vastness of space and she filled her daughters with her awe and wonder of God’s creation. The sky also held one of her other life time loves…. Rainbows… She collected photographs of rainbows. Many who understood her adoration of these bridges of colorful promises, sent her photos from all around the world. Even as late as her last days, she was sharing these beautiful phenomena with whoever was nearby. She was excited with each addition to her collection as if it were her first. The cell phone entered her life with the speed of sound. One day, years ago, a text appeared on her family’s phones from their mother. A sister sheepishly admitted that she had taught their mother how to send and receive messages. While many of Katie’s counterparts were stuck with flip phones or landlines, she was adeptly using an iPhone and cruising through social media like a teenager. Facebook was one of her favorites. She loved visiting with her old friends, posting poetry and showing off her family photos. Katie loved working crossword puzzles. Friends and relatives, even from her earliest adult years, remember her intently working crossword puzzles. These puzzles were never completed in silence but noisily with carefully crafted conversations with herself or an unfortunate person close-by. Katie was a perfectionist and she could not leave a puzzle unfinished. Because of this hobby and skill, she was a master of the game shows in the evenings. On her last healthy evening, she had watched Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and a portion of another favorite show, Antiques Roadshow…. The perfect trifecta… Katie cannot be mentioned without speaking of her deep faith. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Goldsboro, NC and she continued to participate in the church via the internet after her moves. She had a love for Christ and she knew that there was a heaven and a loving creator. She was looking forward to seeing heaven and her beloved husband. Katie loved her family unconditionally but not without a little motherly guidance. She nurtured and raised four daughters while working fulltime and maintaining a household. She was brilliant at it. As mentioned before, Katie was a perfectionist. She was the perfect wife and mother. Katie was PERFECT.

You were perfect Mama….. No more edits…. Your life was perfection. You checked all of the boxes. Project complete. Dance……..Mama, we hope you dance…..

Katie’s wishes were to have a small private family gathering to be held by the sea. She loved swimming in the ocean and hunting for shark’s teeth on the shore. She truly loved the laughter and love of her friends but she hated funerals. Please honor her memory by loving one another and passing it forward to someone else.

Leviticus 19:3 “God gives us mothers as a gift, and he commands that we revere them, just as we are careful to obey all of God's commandments.” Mama, you were our best gift.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to Lower Cape Fear LifeCare Hospice at: https://lifecare.org/Donate or make a check to: Lower Cape Fear LifeCare, 1414 Physicians Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401 in memory of Katie Biggers.

Brunswick Funeral Service, Shallotte.