Michele McGinnis

Michele McGinnis passed away Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, at home in Clay County. Michele was born in Cohoes, N.Y. to the late Edward and Jean DeLude.

One of eight children, she attended high school and community college in Albany, N.Y. Michele was a homemaker for 15 years until she became a single parent. Thereafter, she worked full-time at her children’s school and while raising her daughters she returned to college. After attaining her community college degree, she attended the University of Central Florida where she completed her bachelor of accounting degree.

While her daughters attended high school and college, Michele worked as an accountant in a medical practice in Orlando, Fla. Eventually, she transitioned into accounting in the corporate arena, leading to her position as Vice President at Georgia Electric Membership Cooperative, an umbrella organization for 42 Electric Membership Cooperatives throughout the state of Georgia.

Even more, she loved spending time with her five daughters and seven grandchildren. Watching them grow and succeed was a joy to her.

Michele retired in 2005, where she and her husband, Bob, then led fundraising at three universities. As the wife of Vice President for Development at Auburn University, she was intimately engaged in a successful capital campaign in the 2000s raising $609 million for projects across Auburn University.

Michele and her husband came to Clay County in 1997, moving there full-time in 2012. Michele and Bob were engaged in charitable work in western North Carolina and northeast Georgia.

She served on the board of Habitat for Humanity in north Georgia and as treasurer for Immaculate Heart of Mary parish counsel, Christmas Care of Clay County, Congregation de Notre Dame, Clay County Food Pantry and St. Vincent DePaul Society of Clay County.

In addition to her parents, Michele was preceded in death by her two brothers Richard DeLude and Edward DeLude Jr. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Bob McGinnis; her daughters, Alena Brookshire, of Woodstock, Ga., Deanna and husband, Dan, Corso, of Marietta, Ga., and Teresa Kirkpatrick, of St. Augustine, Fla.; her stepdaughters, Dr. Kelleen and husband, Brian Lonergan, of Frederick, Md., and Kathryn McGinnis, of Winner, S.D.; her seven grandchildren Nicholas and Sophia Corso, Olivia Brookshire, Shannon and Ryan Scott, Caitlin and Aidan Lonergan; her sisters, Carol Bush, Lauri Smith, Gigi Derbella and her brothers Mark and Jeffrey DeLude.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Hayesville, at 10 a.m. Dec. 30 with burial to follow. Family and friends are invited.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the Congregation de Notre Dame, 3135 Easton Turnpike, Fairfield, CT 06825, or St. Vincent DePaul Society of Clay County, c/o PO Box 546, Murphy, NC 28906.

Ivie Funeral Home, Hayesville: www.iviefuneralhome.com is in charge of arrangements.