Katherine Driskell Obituary

PINEY FLATS- Katherine "Katie" Taggart Driskell, age 80, of Piney Flats, TN, passed away on June 6, 2023, in the company of family and her beloved caretakers.

Katie was born in Lynchburg, VA on July 6, 1942, to N.A. Taggart and Mary Faye Dougherty. The Taggarts lived in the small community of Yuma, VA before moving to Kingsport in 1946, where she attended Dobyns-Bennett High School, making friendships that lasted throughout her entire life.

She spent her career pursuing her passion for teaching, from the inner-city high schools of Chicago to the Appalachian hills of Tusculum College to large state schools like the University of Georgia, finally retiring from East Tennessee State University in 2004. Along the way, she collected an array of degrees from Peabody College in Nashville, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Chicago, and the University of Tennessee.

She took great joy in her family, beach trips, square dancing, cultivating interesting plants, and was a great lover of animals. It will come as no surprise to those who knew her that she once rescued a stray goat in a parking lot, somehow got it into her tiny Datsun, and drove it home until its owner could be found.

She is survived by her son Ian Blackburn (Mary Anne Walker) of Knoxville, TN; sister Anna Ruth Gregory of Tucker, GA; niece Alice Hartnett (Howie) of Charlotte, NC; niece Susan Nimmo (Robert) of Camden, AR, and grandnieces Abby Hartnett, Reagan Hartnett, Serena Nimmo, and Leanna Nimmo.

The family will receive friends from 10 AM - 11 AM, Saturday, June 10, at East Tennessee Funeral Home, 2630 Highway 75, in Blountville. Funeral services will begin at 11 AM with Pastor Mike Stout officiating. A private graveside service will follow.

East Tennessee Funeral Home & Cemetery is honored to serve the family of Katherine "Katie" Taggart Driskell.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her honor to WynnWood Wildlife Rehab Center (https://bit.ly/wynnwood).