Betty "Mac" Mccallie Thomas

Betty “Mac” McCallie Thomas, of Dalton, GA died Monday, January 9, 2023.  She was preceded in death by her husband Charlie, her parents Lossie and Hugh McCallie, and her sister Helen Bolinger.  She is survived by her daughter Rebecca (Hilliard) Jolly of Dalton and son Charles “Chuck” (Rebecca) Thomas III of Winston-Salem, NC;  grandchildren Robb (Stacey) Jolly, Robin (Richard) Hasselberg, Lindsey (Tim) Murphy, Lauren (Alan) Duncan, Charlie Thomas IV and Adele Thomas;  great grandchildren Eli Hasselberg, Max Hasselberg, Mia Jolly, Hayes Murphy, Penn Murphy, Mac Murphy, and Jack Duncan; nieces Patricia Purvis, Kim Crane, and Janet Harrington; nephew Bob Bolinger; grandnieces Dana and Anna Crane.

Mac grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and attended the University of Tennessee, where she fell in love with the young Daltonian, Charlie Thomas.  They married in 1946 and moved to Dalton shortly afterwards. By 1949 Mac’s household included two children, as well as the first of a long succession of dogs and cats.  When her children grew up, married, and moved out, the pets, intelligent creatures that they were, remained to be pampered and spoiled.  Her circle of animal friends duly expanded to include countless birds who feasted at her eight backyard feeders as well as the inevitable terrestrial hangers on, whether opportunistic squirrels or the occasional itinerant raccoon or possum.

Mac was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church, initially at Knoxville and for over seventy years at the First Presbyterian Church in Dalton.  She served there as Sunday school teacher, girl scout leader, youth advisor, and, well into her nineties, as greeter, usher and liturgist.  She was a volunteer at Hamilton Medical Center for over thirty years.  She was also an avid bridge player, golfer, and maddeningly consistent tennis player, and she relished the congenial company that these activities brought her.  Her myriad friendships across generations were testament to her kindness, constancy, and fun loving nature.  Perhaps her greatest joys, other than family, were to be found in music (where she was a radio and big band singer as a teenager in the 1940s, a frequent participant in the Dalton Follies in the 1950s, and a member of the women’s vocal group The Daltones in the 1960s) and in dance (most recently with The MarSels).

A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 101 S. Selvidge St on Monday, January 16 at 11:30 am with Reverend Dr. Walter Jones and Reverend Dr. Ken McKenzie officiating.  The family will receive friends from 10:00 to 11:30 am in the commons of the church.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to First Presbyterian Church or NW GA Humane Society.