Jacksonville – Katherin Patterson Arnold Baldwin died at home on January 8, 2026, surrounded by her family. She was 89 years old. Her funeral service will be held on February 19, 2026 at 2:00 p.m., at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 3889 Eloise St., Jacksonville, FL 32205, the Rev. Matthew L. Rusch, officiating. Following a reception in the Holy Trinity fellowship hall, a burial will follow in the Arnold family lot at Evergreen Cemetery, 4535 Main St., Jacksonville, FL 32206.
A third generation Floridian, she was born in Jacksonville on October 2, 1936, together with her twin brother, Charles London Arnold, Jr. Her parents were Charles London Arnold, Sr., and Katherine Garner Patterson Arnold. Her grandparents were John Thomas Skillman Arnold, Mary Caroline Sabrie Arnold, John Henry Patterson and Jessie Boyd Patterson.
She attended West Riverside Elementary School and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School, Class of 1954. She attended Pennsylvania State University where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She was in the Debutante Coterie of Jacksonville (1955-56) and was a Maid in Ye Mystic Revelers (1956). She wrote a social column for the Florida Times-Union before marrying her former husband and father of her four children, William Delavan Baldwin II, in 1957 (they divorced in 1995).
She was baptized and confirmed at the Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church; attended St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral for fifty years; and then became a founding member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church where she served as a prayer minister.
She was a sustaining member of the Junior League of Jacksonville and was formerly a member of The Florida Yacht Club and The Timuquana Country Club.
She is predeceased by her grandsons, Christopher Arnold Baldwin and William Delavan Baldwin, IV; her brothers, William Robinson Frazier and Robert Patterson Frazier; and her parents and grandparents.
She is survived by her children: William Delavan Baldwin, III (Lychel), Sara Sheldon Baldwin, Arnold Sullivan Baldwin (Lisa) and Charles London Baldwin; and her twin brother, Charles L. Arnold, Jr., 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Holy Trinity Anglican Church.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
A Tribute to Mom from Sara Baldwin
When I was about 8 years old, my parents had what they called “conversion experiences.” Both of them were baptized churchgoers, but in 1969, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. They described themselves at the time as becoming “turned on” Christians. They had always believed the words of the Nicene Creed, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit enlivened their faith in powerful ways. They both spoke in tongues and heard the “still small voice” of God directing them personally. They both developed relationships with Jesus. Their lives changed radically. They went from having cocktail parties to hosting house church. They opened the doors of their hearts and their home to countless people, many of whom became cherished friends. They simply couldn’t get enough of Jesus and His people!
While my father focused on evangelism, my mother focused on prayer. She was one of the first prayer ministers at Christian Healing Ministries. She became a lifelong intercessor – interceding not only with words but also with her life. I was one of the great beneficiaries of her very active prayer life. Over a 10-year period, she and her friends prayed that I, too, would have life-changing encounters with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and in 1986, I did, and my life changed forever. And then Mom kept on interceding for me for the rest of her life – and beyond. The last full sentence she spoke to me a few days before she died was a promise of her continued intercession. She hadn’t spoken much that day, but I had been speaking to her. When I said, “I am going to miss you terribly, Mom,” without hesitation, she said, “Well, I will be praying for you!” Hallelujah!
Mom loved the Holy Spirit. She displayed a Holy Spirit dove everywhere – as a license tag on her car, or a pin on her clothes, and to this day as the profile picture on her Facebook page. It’s fitting that her grandmother name was “Birdie.” Looking back at her life, I see how God transformed her into the Holy Spirit’s likeness. In John 14-16, Jesus described the Holy Spirit as “Comforter,” “Counselor,” “Helper,” “Friend,” and “Paraclete” (one called alongside). Anyone who knew Mom would tell you that her loving presence in their life aligned with Jesus’ descriptions of the Holy Spirit. For my brothers and me, she exemplified all of these aspects of the Holy Spirit. Throughout our lives, she comforted, counseled, helped, befriended, and came alongside each of us and our families in deeply personal and life-giving ways. The “rivers of living water” (the Holy Spirit) flowed freely in and through Mom´s life to produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the chief of which is love. Mom loved well!
After my grandparents died, Mom and I had a conversation about death. She told me that our eternal life begins, not after we die, but the day we receive our salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. She said, “We have already begun our eternal lives!” Mom lived and taught us to live from an eternal perspective. So while I do miss her terribly, I know I will see her again. She is and shall always be my sister IN CHRIST. As the scripture says, “In Him, we live and move and have our being.” I am certain that she has joined the “great cloud of witnesses” and believe it is her abiding joy to intercede with Jesus for all of us as we carry on in the life of God’s Spirit, whom she so loved and through whom she so graciously loved us!
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