Kathleen Hamilton's Obituary
Kathleen “Kitty” Hamilton died December 16, 2025 at The Pines in Davidson, where she and her husband Herman were long-time residents. She was born Kathleen Earle Campbell on September 23,1930, to Francis Earle Campbell and Kathleen Williams Abernathy Campbell in Hamlet, North Carolina. Earle Campbell operated a pharmacy in Hamlet, a railroad town in eastern North Carolina. Kitty attended the local schools and developed a reputation for serving vanilla and cherry cokes at the pharmacy soda fountain.
When Kitty was 15, a younger sister, Leslie, arrived. Leslie became Kitty’s constant companion “as soon as she could sit up” despite the age gap, and Kitty discovered her interest in working with children. Studying her first two years at NC’s Woman’s College in Greensboro, Kitty then earned a degree in Elementary Education from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she was active in campus life, made life-long friends, and was president of her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta.
After teaching grades 4-6 for a year, Kitty and three of her Hamlet friends joined the American Red Cross and were posted to military hospitals as occupational therapists. Around the country, hospitals were receiving soldiers who had been wounded in Korea. Kitty was posted to Camp Lejeune, just in time to get set up with a blind date for the Marine Corps Ball. The young man arrived already inebriated, and observing Kitty’s awkward dilemma, Captain Herman Hamilton offered to drive her home. She accepted the kind gesture, and also his invitation to a supper date the next evening. After introductions to the family and trips to meet the grandparents and family friends, the two were married in Hamlet on a very cold evening, December 20, 1954.
Herman, often called Ham, had earned a JD from Exeter, Oxford, on a Rhodes Scholarship. He then finished his military assignment and moved on to Tuscaloosa to finish his legal studies for Alabama law at the University of Alabama. Kitty joined him there — and soon they moved to Montgomery, where Ham worked first for the DA, Mr. Walter Knabe, during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and later practiced law for many years at Capell, Howard, Knabe and Cobbs, where he served as active counsel in other pivotal rulings, including several Civil Rights cases. Kitty was Herman’s staunch supporter in those tumultuous times, and she turned her attention to rearing two daughters, Kathleen Warner Hamilton, and — seven years Katy’s junior, Leslie Camilla Hamilton. A cabin at Lake Martin, near Eclectic, AL, provided respite and interminable “projects” and is still the family gathering place.
Like her mother, Kitty gardened. She loved working with flowers, and she attained a Master Gardener Certification. In addition, she was a leader in her church community, both Presbyterian and Methodist, and supported local community service organizations. She also advocated for the Alabama Symphony and the Carter Center. Her family treasures her beautiful paintings and often chuckled at her dedication to swimming long distances with her flippers at the lake house. Once the girls were grown, educated, and married, Kitty and Ham moved to Lake Norman, North Carolina — and eventually to the Pines in Davidson.
Kitty is survived by her sister Leslie (John) Sutherland, her daughters, Katy (Reuben) Cook, and Leslie Thomas, and her grandchildren Hamilton and Cammie Cook, Will (Sarah) and Nelle (fiancé Dan) Thomas and beloved nieces and nephews.
The family is grateful for the exemplary care and support of Home Carolina, Gaitway, and The Pines.
After a private family ceremony, Kitty and Herman Hamilton will be interred at the lakeside columbarium at the Children’s Harbor chapel, where there will be a marker in their memory. The couple was devoted to the mission of Children’s Harbor, a camp for seriously ill children, and memorials may be made in their honor at Children’s Harbor, 434 Children’s Harbor Drive, Eclectic, AL 36024 ( website: https://childrensharbor.com).
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