Katherine "Katie" Mills Grant Shalin

Katherine (Katie) Mills Grant Shalin, 42, of Marietta died Thursday, September 25, 2014, after a valiant battle with brain cancer. In 2005, Katie joined the Cobb County Center for the Performing Arts (CCCEPA) at Pebblebrook High School as an acting teacher. Prior to that, she taught acting for seven years at Beverly Hills High School in California where she was Teacher of the Year in 2004-2005. She directed many productions at Pebblebrook and Beverly Hills over the years and was a gifted teacher and mentor. She was a playwright, and her 2012 play Swimming with Jellyfish was performed at the Art Place in Marietta and at Actor’s Express in Atlanta as a part of the Essential Theatre’s 2013 Summer Play Festival. As an actress, she had a number of television and stage credits including a guest appearance on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. Katie was born in Detroit, Michigan, on August 15, 1972, and grew up in Detroit and Ann Arbor, MI, Carbondale, IL, and Athens, GA. She graduated from Cedar Shoals High School in Athens in 1990. She received her Bachelor’s degree in theatre arts from Brandeis University in 1994 and her Masters of Fine Arts from the University of California San Diego in 1998. She appeared in numerous stage productions at both universities and was a member of the improvisation group False Advertising while at Brandeis. Katie is survived by her husband of thirteen years, Thomas Charles Shalin, her sons Owen Grant Shalin and Theodore Henry Shalin of Marietta, her mother, Linda Mills Grant, of Athens, her father and stepmother, William R. Grant and Ellen G. Grant of Alpharetta, her sister Elizabeth Grant of Athens, her brothers, Mitchell Grant of Boston, MA, and Rees Grant of Alpharetta, her grandmother, Alice C. Mills, of Athens, and her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Thomas Henry Shalin and Sheila Shalin, of Greensboro, GA. Other survivors include her uncles Steven G. Mills of Charlotte, NC, and Walter M. Grant of Atlanta, and aunts Anne Holloway and Mary Anderson of Lilburn, GA. She was preceded in death by her grandparents Donald B. Mills of Avondale Estates, GA, R. Russell Grant and Mary Mitchell Grant of Winchester, KY, and by her uncle and godfather R. Michael Grant of Winchester, KY. The family expresses gratitude to her health care providers, as well as to her extraordinary neighbors, co-workers, members of her church community, and other friends for their unwavering support during her illness. A memorial service will be held at St. James Episcopal Church in Marietta on Friday, October 3, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Performing Arts Patrons Association at CCCEPA, 991 Old Alabama Rd, Mabelton, GA 30126. A celebration of her life and career as a teacher will be held at Pebblebrook High School on October 25, 2014 at 2:30 p.m. Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home in Marietta will be handling the arrangements. www.mayeswarddobbins.com 770-428-1511

Katherine "Katie" Mills Grant Shalin

August 15, 1972 - September 25, 2014