Katherine Wellford biography: 14 things about Memphis, Tennessee community leader

Who was Katherine Wellford?

Katherine Estes Potts Wellford was American woman who attended White Station Junior High School and the Lausanne Collegiate School, which are both in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. She was named after her mother’s lifelong friend Katherine Estes Nesbit.

Wellford was 2 years younger than her husband Harry Walker Wellford Sr. She is Henry Buckner “Bucks” Potts and Minna Treadwell Beasley Potts‘ first child and Minna Treadwell Potts Thompson and Anne Buckner Potts Eddins‘ older sister.

During the 1960s to the 1970s, Katherine and Harry were active participants in the emerging Shelby County Republican Party. She was associated with the Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis and actively involved in fundraising efforts for the Pink Palace of Memphis.

Katherine graduated from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, USA. Her younger sisters and their mother also attended the school.

After working briefly as a teacher, Katherine ultimately chose to take care of her husband and their four children as a housewife. Still, she managed to hold leadership positions in the community including the Brooks Art Museum board of directors, as Tennessee’s representative for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and as an officer of the Junior League of Memphis and Garden Club of Memphis.

An avid gardener, Katherine was involved in the maintenance and planning for the gardens at the Dixon Art Gallery in Memphis. Here are 14 more things about her:

1. In 1951, she and Harry got married.
2. In 1953, she gave birth to Harry “Hal” Wellford. He is married to Amanda Wellford.
3. In 1954, she gave birth to James Beasley Wellford. He is marred to Adele Orgill Wellford.
4. In 1956, she gave birth to Buckner Wellford. He is married to Jennifer Wellford.
5. In 1959, she gave birth to Katherine “Kate” Wellford Pritchard. Kate is married to Alan Pritchard.
6. In 1965, she gave birth to Allison Wellford. Allison is married to Thomas “Tommy” Parker.
7. On March 17, 1966, her father died in Memphis at age 76.
8. On January 4, 1979, her younger sister Minna died at age 56.
9. On March 22, 1991, her mother died at age 98.
10. On July 28, 1994, her younger sister Anne died at age 64.
11. In 2011, she started battling a terminal illness. 
12. In 2012, Idlewild Presbyterian Church honored her as Presbyterian Woman of the Year.
13. On June 25, 2014, she turned 87.
14. On December 24, 2014, she passed away. She was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.

On September 2, 2022, Katherine’s granddaughter Eliza Wellford Fletcher was abducted and murdered in Memphis by Cleotha Abston Henderson, then 38. On October 28, 2024, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping for the kidnapping.