Katherine Roddey Whitner McKay “Kat” Belk Cook, age 98, matriarch of a large and devoted family and a beloved Charlotte community volunteer, church leader, and philanthropist, died August 30, 2024.
Kat was born in Charlotte on August 16, 1926, to the late Dr. Hamilton Witherspoon McKay and Katherine Wylie Whitner McKay and attended Eastover Elementary School, Alexander Graham Junior High, Chatham Hall in Chatham, VA., and Smith College in Northampton, MA, where she received a bachelor’s degree in history. She spent her junior year at the University of California, Berkeley. Following graduation, Kat returned to Eastover Elementary as a physical education director and fifth-grade teacher.
She married Thomas M. “Tom” Belk, the youngest of six children of Mary Irwin Belk and William Henry Belk, on May 19,1953 in the Belk Chapel at Queens College. The two were married for 43 years until Tom’s death in 1997 at age 71.
Kat was inspired by her parents to make a positive difference in the social, civic, cultural, and religious life of the Charlotte community. As a teenager, she was a Candy Striper assisting patients at Charlotte Memorial Hospital, where her father practiced medicine. Later, she followed in her mother’s footsteps in her leadership and service to such organizations as the Charlotte Junior League and the Charlotte Symphony.
Myers Park Presbyterian Church held a special place in Kat’s heart and was an integral part of her life. She grew up in the church that her father helped found, and served in many leadership roles including Elder, Deacon, Sunday School teacher, and member of Women of the Church. Her close relationship with Myers Park ministers over the years was an important part of her life. Kat traveled to Malawi as a member of Myers Park’s first mission trip to that country.
Her love of gardening and friendship with Elizabeth and Eddie Clarkson led to a longtime involvement with Wing Haven Garden and Bird Sanctuary, where she helped establish a foundation to provide long-term financial support. She enjoyed growing and arranging flowers, and for several years operated a flower business, Party Pizazz, with her friend, Ruthie Dalton, specializing in arrangements for parties and weddings.
Kat also had a passion for the arts. She volunteered and took art classes at the Mint Museum, served on its board of trustees and advocated for a second museum site in uptown Charlotte.
Kat was also instrumental in establishing a new arts building and sculpture program at Davidson College. The Katherine and Tom Belk Visual Arts Center was dedicated in 1998 in their honor. Kat and Tom served on the college’s board of trustees for many years, as had both of their fathers. She was a strong supporter of the Charlotte Symphony and served on its board.
More recently, Kat’s volunteer efforts were focused on helping the homeless, and victims of human sex trafficking in Charlotte. She was a volunteer and counselor at Roof Above and supported its emergency program shelter on North Tryon Street for people who are homeless. Kat supported the Lily Pad Haven and the Charlotte Metropolitan Human Trafficking Task Force, which raises awareness of human trafficking in the Charlotte area and provides support for its victims.
The philanthropic efforts of Kat and her family have benefited many worthy education and charitable organizations and causes throughout North Carolina and beyond. She served on the board of directors of The Belk Foundation and was secretary and director of the Katherine and Thomas Belk Foundation, which joined with the John and Claudia Belk family to fund Belk Place in uptown Charlotte, a new meeting space for local non-profit civic organizations.
Kat’s life-her faith, generosity and service, energy and inquisitiveness– has been an inspiration and model to her family. She was intimately involved in the lives of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who knew her affectionately as “Babe”.
She had a lifelong love of learning and actively pursued new interests and opportunities. Her grandchildren loved her story of taking flying lessons during college. In her later years she studied art. Each week she would spend hours playing bridge, sharpening her skills and mind.
Kat was also predeceased by her second husband, James Fielder Cook, whom she married in 2000. In her later life, Kat shared many wonderful years with her friend and loving companion Rufus Dalton.
Kat is survived by her daughter, Katherine Belk “Katie” Morris (Walker) of Charlotte; three sons, Thomas M. “Tim” Belk (Sarah) of Charlotte, H.W. McKay Belk (Nina) of Denver, CO, and John R. “Johnny” Belk (Kim) of Charlotte; sixteen grandchildren: Kate Morris Stanley (Trevor) of Washington, DC; Charlie Morris (Caton), Rebecca Morris Tanner (Ruffin), Adelaide Belk Martin (Jake), Thomas Belk III , Katherine Belk (Peyton Coles) of Charlotte, Molly Belk (James Temple) of Charlottesville, VA and Louisa Belk of New York; Cabell Belk of Brooklyn, NY; Whitner Belk Carlin (Greg) of Denver, McKay Belk, Jr. of Maine; Daniel Belk and Wilson Belk of Denver, Anna Belk Elliott (Dennis) of Charlotte; John R. “Rob” Belk Jr. (Elizabeth) of Greensboro; and Frances Rassieur (Tee) of St. Louis, MO; and twenty-one great grandchildren.
A celebration of the life of Kat Belk Cook will be held Friday, September 27 at 10:30am at Myers Park Presbyterian Church with the Reverend Joe Clifford officiating. A private burial will take place prior to the service. The family will receive friends immediately following the service in the church’s Oxford Hall.
Kat’s family thanks Jeanette Smith for the dedicated care and friendship she gave Kat over many years. Memorials may be made to the Charlotte Symphony, 128 S. Tryon Street, Suite 350, Charlotte, NC 28202, and Wing Haven Foundation, 248 Ridgewood Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28209.
Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204 (704) 641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.