Dixie Butler Casteel

Dixie Anne Hollis Butler Casteel, 84, passed away on March 11, 2026, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle after several months of declining health.

Born on June 2, 1941, in Memphis, Tennessee, she was the second child and only daughter of Evelyn Dixie Hesse and Harry Newcombe Hollis, Sr. Her father’s work as education director in Baptist churches moved the family across several cities, including Owensboro, Paducah, and Lexington, Kentucky; Jackson, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Knoxville, Tennessee. From her parents, Dixie inherited a deep love of music, the ability to play the piano by ear, and a spirit of optimism that taught her to look for the best in people. These qualities shaped her lifelong commitment to education, social and racial justice, and community service.

Dixie graduated from West High School in Knoxville in 1959 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Blue Mountain College in 1963. After teaching first grade for three years at Springdale School in Memphis, she received both a Master of Arts and an Education Specialist degree from George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville. She later served on the staff of Peabody’s Demonstration and Research Center, training graduate students to work with disadvantaged young children.

In 1966, she met Carl Hawley Butler, III, at First Baptist Church in Nashville. The couple married on September 7, 1968, and made their home in the historic Temple Heights (1837) in Columbus, Mississippi. Together they restored the house, filled it with period furniture and art, and opened it for tours, weddings, receptions, and gatherings for friends, colleagues, students, governors, senators, and distinguished guests. After Carl’s death in 2003, Dixie continued the tradition, welcoming visitors for forty-six years of the Columbus Pilgrimage until the home’s sale in 2016. She viewed Temple Heights as a living classroom where guests could learn about Mississippi and Southern history. Notably, she connected with Morris Henderson, a descendant of an enslaved man who had lived at the property, and invited him to share his ancestors’ stories with visitors.

Dixie dedicated her career to public education, teaching first grade at Sale Elementary School, serving as principal of Barrow Elementary School and Stokes-Beard Elementary School, and concluding her tenure as principal of Franklin Academy, Mississippi’s oldest public school. She was a passionate advocate for excellent public education for all children and mentored many teachers throughout her years in Columbus. Beyond education, she contributed to civic life as records chairman for the Southern Swimming Athletic Union, program chairman for the Decorative Arts and Preservation Forum, president of the Columbus Pilgrimage Association, president of Historic Columbus, and president of the Cherokee Garden Club. She also served on the Military Affairs and Education Committees of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and on the board of the Richard Holmes Memorial Foundation.