Annie Ardelia McGuire or "Delie" was born in Carroll County, Georgia on Dec. 31, 1891 to John Benjamin McGuire and Sarah Catherine Clay McGuire.

She married William Thomas King on Nov. 1, 1908. They had 12 children between the years of 1909 and 1929. Over the years, I've listened to my grandfather and his siblings talk about their parents. It was very clear that Ardelia and William had a very close relationship and were very loving parents. They instilled in their children a love of God and a love of family. That love of family was one of the things that always stood out to me at the annual King Christmas Reunion. The bonds between the King siblings were strong throughout their lives.

Ardelia died on May 6, 1954 and was buried at Poplar Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Carroll County, Georgia. According to her death certificate, she died of a Cerebral Hemorrhage due to Hypertension. Her obituary appeared in the May 13, 1954 edition of the Bremen Gateway, Bremen, Ga. A copy of the obituary can be viewed and/or obtained from microfilm at the Warren Sewell Library at Bremen, GA.

The following is a tribute that was written by her son Robert Huland King:

In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. W.T. King

How well do I remember, it seems like yesterday
When Mother and Daddy were pleased in every way
To see their children's faces as they all gathered in
For that's what made Christmas so jolly to begin.

Our mother always waited, she knew that we would be
So happy just to help her decorate the Christmas tree
It seemed that she knew just the way that everything should go
To make our Christmas merry back in the days of old.

While Daddy would be sitting in his old rocking chair
He might not always tell you but the spirit was there
You could tell it by his smiling face, though his hair had turned to gray
We always had a Christmas that was merry every way.

I knew that this Christmas was going to be sad
When all our family gathered without dear mom and dad
Although they are not with us their memories still live on
We never will forget them, although we know they're gone.

~Biography Written by Sabrina King Combs (great-granddaughter)

~Tribute Written by Robert Huland King