Mrs Julia Pettigrew

Julia McArthur Pettigrew January 12, 1931 — October 16, 2025 Julia McArthur Pettigrew passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, at the home of her son in the Good Hope community of Leake County on the afternoon of October 16, 2025. She was 94. She was born on January 12, 1931, delivered by a midwife at home near Preston in Kemper County. She was the fourth of seven children of Richmond McArthur and Mary Dow Rosamond McArthur. She was a child of the Great Depression. She grew up working in the fields on a farm. She remembered eating turnip greens and boiled dry peas in winter, and sometimes going to bed hungry. One of her childhood Christmas memories was when the girls got red rubber balls and the boys got packs of firecrackers. They had thought that they weren’t going to get anything, so they were happy. She graduated from Lynville High School in 1950. She got a job as a nursing aide at the Mississippi State Hospital, where she met her future husband, who also worked there. She married Billy Pettigrew on February 9, 1952. They were married for 49 years, until he died in 2001. Early in their marriage, they moved to Waukegan, Illinois, where he worked for the Veterans Administration and she worked at a department store lunch counter. They stayed only a couple of years – long enough to earn enough money to buy a 40-acre farm on what is now McDonald Road near Good Hope. She lived there for the rest of her life. She took a job as a seamstress at the Carthage Corporation, a pants factory. She worked there for 29 years. She despised the work, but that’s how she supported her family and sent her children to school. She retired when failing health and eyesight forced her to quit. Julia and Billy Pettigrew had two children, Beverly Pettigrew Kraft (David) and Delmer Pettigrew (Deana). She is survived by her children; five grandchildren, Pamela J. Lowe (Matt), Sam Pettigrew, Noah Pettigrew, Mary Kraft Cochran (Nathan) and Julie Kraft Graves (Cody); nine great-grandchildren, Conner Green, Josiah Green, Sunny Lynn Pettigrew, S.J. Pettigrew, Kinsley Cochran, Anna Carol Cochran, Julia Grace Cochran, Tori Cochran and Joseph Lowe; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, all of her siblings, and all of his siblings. She was the last of her generation. Pallbearers are Sam Pettigrew, Noah Pettigrew, S.J. Pettigrew, Josiah Green, Mary Kraft Cochran, Nathan Cochran, Joseph Lowe, and Kyle McCormick. Matt Lowe is an honorary pallbearer. The family expresses sincere gratitude to the staff of Gentiva hospice care of Newton, especially nurses Meagan Edwards and Tyler Richardson and staff member Brittany Graham, for their gentle and compassionate care during Mrs. Pettigrew’s final days.

Mrs Julia Pettigrew

January 12, 1931 - October 16, 2025

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Mrs Julia Pettigrew

January 12, 1931 - October 16, 2025

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

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About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

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365 Days of Grief Support