Clara "sue" Mccall

Clara Sue McCall?s pleasing smile was a reflection of her sweet nature and genial spirit. She had an eye for art and design, along with a curiosity for her family history and genealogy.

?Her family was very important to her,? said her sister Carolyn Weese. ?Sue was always collecting information about Clyburn history at family reunions.?

Mrs. McCall of Epworth died on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. She was 72.

She was born to Thomas B. and Clara Etta Clyburn on Sept. 26, 1937, in Blue Ridge where Mr. Clyburn was the principal of Blue Ridge High School.

That morning during the school?s chapel service, students noticed Mr. Clyburn?s especially cheery mood. One student, Irma Garrison, still recalls his excitement.

?He got up and announced, ?Let?s sing There?s a Song in the Air because we have a new baby girl at our house!?? she said of the memory. ?He meant that the song was her crying.?

Mrs. McCall grew into an avid reader and liked the challenge of cross-word puzzles. Her sister Lynn Garrison remembers that as teenager, Mrs. McCall spent many Sunday mornings reading the comics, drinking coffee and laughing. She also enjoyed cooking and interior design.

?She loved to refinish old furniture and paint,? Garrison said.

In 1955, Mrs. McCall graduated from Copperhill High School. She then attended classes at North Georgia and Young Harris colleges before she moved to Atlanta to pursue work in various professions including retail and car sales.

Mrs. McCall lived in various parts of Georgia and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state before she returned to Atlanta to work as a police dispatcher. In Atlanta, she met her husband, Carter E. McCall, and the two were wed on Oct. 14, 1978, in Walhalla, S.C.

Mrs. McCall and her husband lived in Epworth where she was a member of the First Baptist Church of Epworth. She was a breast cancer survivor and struggled with diabetes and a heart condition, especially in the later years of her life. However, she maintained her warm personality through the hardest of times. Her amiable spirit is probably what her friends and family will remember the most, including her brother-in-law Larry Garrison.

?Sue had the most agreeable presence among anyone,? he said. ?There was never a more gentle soul than Sue.?

Mrs. McCall is survived by her husband, Carter McCall; daughter, Sheree Estes of La Grange, Ga.; son, Ronald Clyburn Estes of Forth Worth, Texas; stepson, Keith McCall of Lula, Ga.; mother-in-law, Lillie McCall of Ducktown; two sisters; three step-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by one sister, Ruth Ann Morris, and brother, Thomas Clyburn III.

Visitation hours will be held from 12 to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Cochran Funeral Home, 1487 Blue Ridge Drive in McCaysville. Services and burial will immediately follow at First Baptist Church of Epworth, 447 Madola Road in Epworth, with the Rev. Tom Jordan officiating. Memorial contributions may be sent online to Susan G. Komen for the Cure at komen.org, Diabetes Action at diabetesaction.org or the American Heart Association at americanheart.org.

Condolences may be posted online at cochranfuneralhome.com