She was the one who brought Edison to light: Community members remember Marcia Killingsworth

EDISON – On the second Monday of each month, Marcia Killingsworth sat front row at Edison’s City Council meetings – as close to the mayor and council members as she could get – a stack of papers in her lap and a portable machine that helped her breathe in the aisle next to her.

Her name regularly ran across the first line in the public comment section. When she stood to speak, she’d reference public records she’d requested and ask questions: What had happened to the some $600,000 Edison received in COVID relief? How did city leadership fail to submit a legally required state audit for four years?

She was often met with silence and stumped faces from the city’s leaders, but it never stopped her.

“If it weren’t for her, we’d still be in the stone ages,” Troy Timpson, a fellow Edison resident, said. “She was the one who brought Edison to light.”

Killingsworth passed away over the Labor Day weekend after struggling with her health for several years.

She was born in Edison in 1955. Her family members were farmers, and her grandfather co-owned the local cotton warehouse business. Killingsworth graduated from Calhoun County High School in 1973 and went off to study first at LaGrange College and then at the University of Georgia, where she studied journalism.

She spent her career in Atlanta, working for multiple publications, including the Marietta Daily Journal and Georgia Public Broadcasting for about 25 years. When she retired, she moved back to her family home in Edison.

Brandy Johnson, an Edison resident and friend of Killingsworth’s, said she loved the small city.

“Edison has always been her hometown, and she had a big heart for it,” Johnson said. “She wanted Edison to thrive and succeed. That’s why she had such a passion when she saw the city decline into debt. She wanted to see them climb out of it.”

When Killingsworth first moved back home in 2012, she created the Facebook page “Edison Today” as a way to connect with the community and create a hub for news in the small town. This is how she first met Johnson. The two started talking and quickly became friends. Killingsworth asked Johnson if she’d help her get her house ready before she moved in.

“She didn’t know me from Adam’s Apple … but she just opened up her heart,” Johnson said. “She sent me her keys to help get the house ready. When she moved in, that’s when we first met. She trusted me before we ever laid eyes on each other.”

Johnson said Killingsworth was open, honest and saw the good in everyone.

“She tried to give everybody the benefit of the doubt,” she said.

Killingsworth soon started attending Edison’s City Council meetings. It was there that she met Troy and Cheryl Timpson. The three of them regularly attended the meetings, and they began to notice inconsistencies with the city’s finances and a lack of transparency with the public. Cheryl Timpson said the three of them became “the troublemakers” at council meetings. They were the only ones willing to stir things up.

With a former journalist’s knack for investigation, Killingsworth began diving into the city’s financial records. She drafted out lengthy emails to the city’s mayor, clerk and current City Attorney Tommy Coleman. She started demanding answers for missing funds, calling for better communication with citizens and pointing out parts of the city that leadership was neglecting, like road infrastructure.

Her work revealed Edison’s financial crisis and her demands for accountability changed the entire makeup of the city’s council.

Lisa Lewis, an Edison resident and Killingsworth’s neighbor, said without Killingsworth, the city would most likely have gone bankrupt. The recent progress it has made would never have been possible. Still, Lewis said Killingsworth faced backlash from those who didn’t want the city’s issues revealed. She said there were people who didn’t treat Killingsworth right, even though they were people that were supposed to want the best for Edison.

“There’s not a soul alive that can’t say she didn’t leave Edison for the better,” Lewis said. “She absolutely made the difference because of her tenacity. She would not give up.”

When she became too sick to attend Edison’s council meetings, she watched live streams from home, flooding the comment section with questions. She’d post a recap of what was discussed on “Edison Today” so other people were informed.

Those who knew Killingsworth knew she was a private person. She often kept to herself, reading, sitting in a chair by the window and watching the fauna in her yard. Johnson, her friend, said Killingsworth loved to watch the flowers her parents had planted many years ago bloom each year. She always looked forward to fall in Edison and buying enough boiled peanuts to last her the year.

Still, Killingsworth’s caring heart extended beyond her civic dedication.

Cheryl Timpson said her friend would never accept anything from anyone but was always the first to lend a helping hand. When Cheryl’s husband was injured, Killingsworth sent meals to their doorstep.

When Edison got its new city clerk, Johnson said Killingsworth offered to pay for a course the clerk was required to take.

“She was like, ‘I’m willing to pay for whoever. If we get a good person that’s gonna do their job and wants to learn, I will pay for it,’” Johnson said. “That is how passionate she was. She wanted it done right.”

Johnson said she considered Killingsworth family. For every birthday, illness or bad day, Johnson said Killingsworth sent a package with a treat.

“When you tried to repay her, she wouldn’t take it,” Johnson said. “If I was able to sneak something in on her, she’d find out and turn around and do something else for me.”

Johnson said in a community that constantly seemed divided, Killingsworth saw and accepted people for who they were.

“She had a heart of gold, and I’ll truly miss her witty self,” Johnson said. “There’s no one that could touch Marcia.”

While Killingsworth was the engine for significant change in Edison, Lewis said she would not have been satisfied until the people responsible for Edison’s financial crisis were held accountable. Lewis said she still believes that accountability will come, but that it will take time.

“She was really hoping to see Edison become the hometown that she always loved again,” Johnson said. “I wish she would have lived to see that.”

Photo Courtesy of Brandy JohnsonPhoto Courtesy of Brandy Johnson