Kay Ann Arrington Draughn

On Saturday, November 20, 2021, Kay Ann Arrington Draughn died at the age of 87 in the care of hospice at Sunrise of Salt Lake City, Utah, where she had resided since February of 2021. Kay, fondly known as Mama Kay, was born March 11, 1934, in Westfield, NC, to Boyd Green Arrington and Eva Lillian Arrington. She was a registered nurse, graduating from Baptist Nursing School in Winston-Salem, NC, in September of 1955. On February 16, 1956, she married the love of her life, Paul Draughn, and they raised four children, Jeff, Cliff, Paulette, and Anna. Paul and Kay moved to Metter, GA, in 1978, where Paul worked in the tobacco business until his sudden death in an auto accident in February 1989. Mama Kay had many passions, including her family, reading, traveling, country music, gardening, cooking, and her 4 o’clock coffee and ice cream. She attended Metter United Methodist Church and loved her Sunday school class. She visited and stayed involved in the lives of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She loved to write letters to her family and friends. She was an avid supporter of the local library where she would walk to check out books every week. She traveled all over the country with a group of friends, her YaYa’s. This group of friends attended nursing school together and remained close for 60-plus years. She traveled to England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy, and Greece. She went to many music concerts performed by Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gil, Keith Urban, Brooks and Dunn, and others. Trisha Yearwood even knew her as Mama Kay. She loved to work in her yard and grew flowers indoors and out. She would always gush over a beautiful Camellia. Many family members would say her greatest passion was cooking because they got to receive the benefits. She could cook anything from cornbread and greens to German Chocolate Cake to yeast rolls to spaghetti sauce and she would have appreciative admirers all around. Holidays were always special, and Mama Kay planned every detail. She was truly a “homemaker.” You could always tell when she was home from a trip because her laundry was hanging on the clothesline in her back yard. But the thing her family will miss most is her wisdom, insight, and advice. Mama Kay was dearly loved. Mama Kay is preceded in death by her parents, Boyd and Lillian Arrington; her sister, Faye Sechrist; her husband, Paul Draughn; and a niece, Susan Sechrist Elliott. She is survived by her four children, Jeff (Debra) Draughn, Cliff Draughn, Paulette (Jonathan) Smith, and Anna Cheatham. She has seven grandchildren, Brooks Draughn, Paul Draughn, Polly Smith (Jimmy) Braddy, Will Smith, Lilly Cheatham, Cara Cheatham, and Knox Cheathem. She has three great-grandchildren, Nat Henry Braddy, J Fisher Braddy, and Jansley Braddy; two stepgrandsons, Neil Smith and Nathan Smith; a niece; and five nephews. The funeral service will be held Saturday, December 4, 2021, at 11:00 AM at Moody Funeral Home Chapel in Mount Airy, NC. Burial will follow at Skyline Memory Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Saturday from 10:00 AM until the time of the service. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Friends of the Library, 50 South Kennedy Street, Metter, GA 30439.