lit a candle 19d agoMy mom just called me about this. She grew up in Wilmington and says you couldn't go a week without seeing a Biddle Plumbing truck. Sixty three years married to the same man, Mac. That kind of steady life is its own kind of remarkable.
Their story
Kathryn Joyner Biddle died on September 28, 2026, in Wilmington, North Carolina, at the age of 96. Her passing was announced through an obituary placed with Wilmington Funeral and Cremation, which described her as a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother whose life was defined by family and faith rather than…
Kathryn Joyner Biddle died on September 28, 2026, in Wilmington, North Carolina, at the age of 96. Her passing was announced through an obituary placed with Wilmington Funeral and Cremation, which described her as a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother whose life was defined by family and faith rather than public fame. She was not a celebrity, politician, or public official in the ordinary sense, and no Wikipedia article or news coverage beyond local obituary notices has been found for her. This page sets out what is known and reliably documented about her life.
Kathryn was born on November 25, 1929, and grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. Her life changed course in 1951 when she met Herbert McClammy Biddle Jr., known to everyone as Mac, who was then a cadet at The Citadel military college in Charleston. The two married and remained together for sixty three years, until Mac's death in August 2014. The couple settled in Wilmington, North Carolina, where Mac eventually took over his family's plumbing business.
For much of her adult life, Kathryn worked alongside her husband at H.M. Biddle Plumbing Company, the family firm founded by his father. She is remembered as a steady, hardworking presence who supported the business until her retirement. Outside of work, she was a longtime and devoted member of First Baptist Church in Wilmington, where her faith was described as a source of strength and comfort throughout her life and a source of inspiration to those around her.
Kathryn's later years brought significant personal loss. Her husband Mac died in 2014. Her son, Alan Carlton Biddle, died in August 2022, and her daughter, Teresa Louise Biddle, died in November 2023. Despite these losses, she is remembered by her family as someone whose love and presence anchored the household through decades of change.
She died peacefully in Wilmington at 96, survived by her son Jeffrey Sam Biddle, her daughter Jane Karen Biddle, three grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, and two nieces, Linda and Louise Joyner. A graveside service was held on October 2, 2026, at Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington, led by her pastor, the Reverend Dr. Barrett Owen. Her obituary asked that she be remembered simply as a woman devoted to her family and her church, and that is the picture that emerges from everything that has been reported about her.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by Port City Daily.
My grandfather used that company for forty years, good people.