Kathy Baley Atkinson

Kathy Baley Atkinson passed away peacefully at home with her loyal dog, Teddy, by her side on February 28, 2024. Kathy was born in Asheville, NC, on April 7, 1948, to James M. Baley, Jr., and Diana Chandley Baley.

Kathy lived in Marshall, NC, during her early years, attending school on the island there until the third grade. The basement of the school was flooded routinely during those years which caused some excitement for the kids. She enjoyed happy years with her older brother, Jim, playing in the woods and trails adjacent to their home at the lower end of town, sometimes riding their broomstick horses, Little Billy and Big Billy. Their father took them to school and each day they would walk home together.

In January of 1957 the family moved to Asheville after their grandfather, James M. Baley, Sr., whom had lived with the family for several years prior, passed away. Kathy fondly remembered times listening to programs with her grandfather during the period he lived with the family in Marshall. For Kathy the move to Asheville came half-way through her third-grade year. At Grace School in north Asheville she immediately made an entirely new set of friends whom remained with her until she graduated from Lee Edwards High School in 1966. Kathy’s school years in Asheville were happy and quite successful. She was an excellent student and she and her friends enjoyed a lot of fun times together. She was a cheerleader in high school and near the top of her large graduating class. Kathy had an outgoing personality and was always doing things with her friends.

After graduation from Lee Edwards, she began college at St. Mary’s Junior College in Raleigh, a girls school where she made many lifelong friends. Her time at St. Mary’s was very important to her. She transferred in her junior year to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated from there in June of 1970 with a B.A. degree in Secondary Education-English. After that she came home to Asheville for a couple of years and taught English and Mathematics at St. Genevieve/Gibbons Hall. Kathy discovered teaching was not to be her calling. She was drawn to the law, as many in her family have been. She studied to become a paralegal in Philadelphia in 1973.

Kathy decided it was time to leave Asheville and moved to Atlanta where she spent the next nine years working as a paralegal in the Commercial Real Estate Section for a large law firm there. She decided she would prefer being a lawyer over working for one. She left the law firm and went to Emory University School of Law, graduating with a J.D. degree in May 1985 and becoming a licensed member of the Georgia Bar that same year.

She then worked as an attorney for another law firm as an associate for two years before joining Metropolitan Life Insurance Company as an attorney in their Commercial Real Estate section, where she worked for the rest of her career before retiring as Assistant General Counsel for Met Life at the age of 60. At Met she supervised and reviewed the legal documents involved when clients borrowed money from Met to finance transactions including the purchase and leasing of shopping centers, apartment complexes and many other kinds of large transactions throughout the United States.

Kathy married Tyrus R. Atkinson, Jr. in 1978. Ty was an attorney in Atlanta, whom she met during lunches with her Aunt Deane who also worked in downtown Atlanta. Ty always seemed to be at the same restaurant at the same time and eventually conversations began. They enjoyed many happy years together until his death in 2013.

They enjoyed an active life with friends they knew both locally and from their extensive travels and time spent in other places. They made many trips to all sections of Europe. Ty especially enjoyed learning the history of each place and he thoroughly examined each castle he could find in all the countries he visited. Kathy was a patient listener and enjoyed hearing his enthusiasm in talking about what they were seeing. They also visited each summer with one of Kathy’s friends from St. Mary’s at the friend’s villa in Italy.

After their retirement they left Atlanta and split their time between Santa Rosa Beach, FL, and Asheville. Golf was a big part of their lives in both places. They enjoyed tremendous friendships and had great fun with trips and cruises to Europe continuing unabated. They had great times talking with each other about all the issues of the day and the history and cultures of the places they visited. Throughout Kathy’s life holidays played an important role, the Christmas season in particular being a time of year she loved.

Kathy leaves behind her brother, James M. Baley, III, and nephews, John W. Baley (Laura) and James W. Baley (Kit). Kathy was very generous and enjoyed spending time with her grand-niece, Ava Baley, and her grand-nephews, Drew and Myron Jack Baley. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Marilyn Bollinger. She shared a very special bond with Teddy, her little dachshund, who was her constant companion and guard dog.

Kathy did not suffer fools and excelled at everything she put her mind to. She was a trailblazing attorney when it was not easy to be a woman in the legal profession. She was a wonderful daughter, sister, wife, aunt, great-aunt, and friend. Her family will forever treasure their memories of Kathy’s sharp wit, keen mind, warm heart, and talent for speaking directly to the truth of a matter. She will be fondly remembered and sorely missed.

The family would like to express their sincerest appreciation for Lillian Davis, who was Kathy’s constant friend and companion in the past several years.

A memorial service for Kathy will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, 2024, in the main sanctuary at First Baptist Church of Asheville, 5 Oak Street, Asheville, NC 28801, with the Rev. Dr. Buddy Corbin officiating. The service will be livestreamed from Kathy’s Facebook account beginning at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday. Kathy will be buried in the family plot at Pritchard Cemetery in Marshall.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Kathy’s memory to The Masonic Home for Children at Oxford, Inc., 600 College Street, Oxford, NC 27565, where her mother spent nine of her childhood years.