Oldest living Penn Center graduate, mother of Gullah Gullah Island star dies at 101

A longtime St. Helena Island resident who was the oldest living graduate of the Penn School died Sunday.

Kathleen Grant Daise, 101, died at River Oaks Residential Care in Port Royal, according to Chisholm Galloway Home for Funerals.

Daise, a lifelong St. Helena Island resident, was the mother of Gullah Gullah Island TV show star Ron Daise and a 1933 graduate of Penn Normal Industrial and Agricultural School.

She was born in the Croft community on St. Helena in 1913, her son Ron said Monday.

An ardent Christian in adulthood, members of his mother's community believed she had spiritual powers at birth when she was born with a caul--a piece of membrane covering the baby's head and face. As an infant, sick children in the community were brought to her in the hopes those spiritual powers would heal them, Ron Daise said.

After graduating from the Penn Center, she had a long career teaching at one-room schoolhouses on the island and Sunday school classes. She stepped away from teaching when she and her husband, Henry Daise Sr., started a family. Henry Daise Sr. was also a 1933 graduate of the Penn School.

They settled in the Cedar Grove community, raising nine children before her husband's death at 52. After his death, she returned to teaching at the Penn School nursery.

Kathleen Daise was preceded in death by three of her children, Ron Daise said.

Ron Daise was the youngest of the nine children, separated by eldest daughter Catherine by 19 years. Although he was just nine years old when his father died, Ron Daise said he still remembers his mother and father kneeling at his bedside in prayer.

After her husband's death, Kathleen Daise was left to raise the children on her own, but she never worried, Ron Daise said. Because she did not have a car, she walked to her children's school to ensure they were getting the right education.

She relied on her faith to guide her through, Ron Daise said.

"She said it was a matter of trusting in God and believing in Him, doing the best that you can," he said. "It was about holding one's family together with love.

"She always made it to all of our extracurricular and church activities. She always wanted us to read. And she was always was praying for us."

Kathleen Daise had been widowed nearly a half-century when she died Sunday.

It was at home on St. Helena were Ron Daise learned much of the culture that would influence Gullah Gullah Island, the children's show he and wife Natalie would star in during the 1990s. For instance, one of the pelican puppets on the show, Chansome, bore the name given to Ron Daise's father -- a midwife had bestowed it on him -- remarking they were going to take a "chance on" the healthy baby boy.

Kathleen Daise saw much of St. Helena's history. She could remember walking the island to school before there were paved roads, or taking the ferry across the Beaufort River to reach the mainland, Ron Daise said.

Ron Daise said his parents' background motivated him and his siblings to work hard and be successful.

"I would tell people that I am the son of Penn School graduates," he said. "...You were expected to lead and to live exemplary lives. You were of value to the community."

Although her mind and her wit remained sharp as the years passed, her health started to deteriorate in her final years.

Ron Daise said his family celebrated her 99th birthday in 2012 because they weren't sure if she would make it to a centenarian. Most of their extended family showed up for the surprise party, but Kathleen Daise joked she hadn't seen anyone because she hadn't been invited, her son recalled with a chuckle.

Kathleen Daise would have turned 102 on Nov. 1, her son said.

Funeral arrangements are pending by Chisholm Galloway Home for Funerals.

Follow reporter Matt McNab on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.

This story was originally published August 24, 2015 at 9:08 AM with the headline "Oldest living Penn Center graduate, mother of Gullah Gullah Island star dies at 101."