Services for Julia Kingston to be Held Saturday in Centre

Mrs. Julia Snead Kingston died Wednesday, July 12th. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Perry Funeral Home Chapel in Centre with Revs. Melvyn Salter and Dan Meadows officiating. Burial will follow in the Shady Grove Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday.

Mrs. Kingston was 86 years old and was born November 12, 1919, to the late Grady and Mary Towers Miller. She grew up in the Pollard's Bend Community of Cherokee County on her mother's family farm, which dates back to the mid 1800's.

Mrs. Kingston attended Cherokee County High School, Blue Mountain Women`s College in Mississippi, where she studied music and drama, and Jacksonville State Teachers College, where she graduated with a degree in education.

Mrs. Kingston applied this training in her first job as a music teacher with the Cherokee County School System. She also taught first grade at Livingston School and third grade, for many years, at Centre Elementary School, all the while participating in many professional and civic organizations.

In 1967 Dr. Houston Cole selected her to be the first director of alumni and development for Jacksonville State University. During her 15 year tenure, a strong alumni association was established, as well as the JSU Foundation. As a result of her efforts and efforts of many others, JSU Foundation still thrives today as a multimillion dollar fund-raising enterprise. Mrs. Kingston was gratified by her work while at JSU, but was most proud of her career as an educator.

Following her retirement, Mrs. Kingston and her husband Joe resided in Washington, D. C. for six years. During that time, she worked on several legislative projects, including working with Senator Claude Pepper on Federal legislation regarding nursing home regulations and elder law.

After she and Joe relocated to her Alabama home on Weiss Lake, Mrs. Kingston remained involved in civic and community organizations, while she continued to take an active role in the Alabama Education Association.

For many years, Julia Kingston was a member of the Centre First Baptist Church and recently moved her membership back to Shady Grove Baptist, which is adjacent to her family farm.

Mrs. Kingston is survived by her husband of 27 years, Major General Joseph P. Kingston; two children, Mary Jane Miller of Centre, and Bob (Debbie) Snead of Birmingham; two step-children, John (Barbara) Kingston of San Diego, Ca., and Carol (Dan) White of Tampa, Fla.; four grandchildren, Julie (Mike) Van Allen of Portland, Ore., Robby (Sandy) Robinson of Atlanta, Perrin Robinson of Birmingham and Melissa Miller (Josh) Gilbert of Birmingham; four great-grandchildren, Mikey, Peyton and Meredith Van Allen and Taylor Robinson; god-daughter, Meredith Price Driskell and nephew David Miller, also several beloved nieces and a host of former pupils.

Mrs. Kingston was preceded in death by her former husband Caldwell Snead.

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