J.D. Benson

MEMPHIS– J.D. Benson, 63, died Saturday, October 11, 2008, at his residence. He was the brother of Herman Benson of Sardis.

Services are Saturday at noon at Spring Hill M.B. Church. Burial will be in Spring Hill M.B. Church Cemetery in Strayhorn. Felix Cauthen Funeral Home has charge.

Benson was a truck driver.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Laouberta Merritt Benson.

Survivors along with his brother include: three daughters, Janice Benson, Sharon Henderson and Sharmayne Benson, all of Memphis; three sons, Troy Merritt, Corry Benson and Martavis Benson, all of Memphis; one sister, Veteree Armstrong of Senatobia; one brother, Willie Benson of Horn Lake; 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Rodrick R. Buck

COMO– Rodrick R. Buck, 21, died Monday, October 13, 2008, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Desoto.

Services are Saturday at noon at Cistern Hill M.B. Church. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Felix Cauthen Funeral Home has charge.

Survivors include: his parents, Shirley and James O. Buck of Como and one brother, Darrell Dewayne Buck and his grandmother, Mildred Buck of Crenshaw.

Lois Johnson Browning

BATESVILLE– Lois Johnson Browning, 94, died Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Services were Thursday at Shady Grove Baptist Church. Burial was in Shady Grove Cemetery. Sammy Landsdell and Rev. Rusty Roberson officiated. Wells Funeral Home had charge.

Browning, born Aug. 13, 1914, to the late Andrew David and the late Bessie Naomi Snipes Johnson, was an active member of the phone ministry at Shady Grove Baptist Church where she was a member.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Gaither Curtis Browning; two sons, James Howard Browning and Billy Wayne Browning; one sister, Cathrine Browning; one grandson and one great-granddaughter.

Survivors include: six daughters, Betty Jean Manning of Batesville, Bessie Marie Scruggs of West Point, Sarah Graham of Dorsey, Ila Mae Clark of Pontotoc, Margie Dale Harris of Oxford and Alma Lansdell of Saltillo; her daughter-in-law, Teresa M. Browning of Batesville; two sons, Charles David Browning of Ecru and Gaither Douglas Browning of Batesville; her niece and caregiver, Charlene Houston; 19 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Mary Cleland Carter

SARDIS– Mary Cleland Carter, 85, died Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at the Mississippi State Veterans Home.

Services are Saturday at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Sardis. Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery. Visitation is today 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Ray-Nowell Funeral Home. Ray-Nowell Funeral Home has charge.

Carter, born Sept. 15, 1923, to the late John Lloyd and Leona Drake Cleland, was a Navy veteran of WWII. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Sardis where she was involved in all of its ministries, missions, teaching, music, singing and playing the piano and organ.

She was preceded in death by her husband, David Thompson Carter.

Survivors include: two sisters, Ruth Jackson of Sardis and Jane Cook of Southaven; one brother, W.O. Cleland of Austin, Texas.

Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church in Sardis.

Calvin Freeman

BATESVILLE– Calvin Freeman, 41, died Wednesday, October 15, 2008, at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Services are Sunday at 2 p.m. at Macedonia M.B. Church. Rev. Zannie Leland Jr. will officiate. Visitaiton is Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary. Burial will be in Macedonia Cemetery. Cooley’s Mortuary has charge.

Freeman, born Nov. 8, 1966, in Sardis to Minnie Sullivan Freeman of Batesville and the late Sidney Freeman, was a factory worker at Batesville Casket Company. He was a member of Macedonia M.B. Church.

Survivors along with his mother include: his wife, Meledia Freeman of Batesville; his grandmother, Mable Sullivan of Kanakee, Ill.; one son, Arthur S. Freeman of Batesville; one sister, LaToya Nash of Batesville and one brother, Edward Freeman of Walls.

John Ray Green, 69, of Scottsboro, AL passed away Sunday, October 5, 2008, at Highlands Health and Rehab.

Funeral services were held on Wednesday, October 8 at Rudder Funeral Home Chapel in Scottsboro with Bro. Clint Graham officiated. Burial followed in Pinehaven Memorial Gardens.

Mr. Green is survived by his daughter, Holly Green Bridges of Batesville, Miss.; son and daughter-in-law, Toby and Tracy Green of Courtland, Miss.; sisters and brothers-in-law, Dottie and Joe Northcutt of Foley and Dean and Buck Farley of Dunlap, Tenn.; three grandchildren, Kyle Green, Allie Bridges and Jaiden Green.

Mr. Green was preceded in death by his parents, James Fletcher and Mazie Green; sons, Johnny Ray Green Jr. and Jon Ross Green.

Mr. Green was a U.S. Army veteran and long haul truck driver.

Vivian Chamoun Pernell

CLARKSDALE– Batesville Intermediate School speech pathologist Vivian Chamoun Pernell, 51, died Sunday, October 12 at Methodist Hospital in Memphis of complications related to cancer.

She had worked with children at Batesville Intermediate since 2006.

Funeral services for Pernell will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church in Clarksdale. A visitation will be held today at the church from 6 to 8 p.m. Meredith Nowell Funeral Home in Clarksdale has charge of arrangements.

A 1975 graduate of Clarksdale High School, Pernell obtained the B.S. degree in social work and the M.S. degree in speech and language pathology from the University of Southern Mississippi. She later earned a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision from Delta State University. She served as speech-language pathologist and speech-language supervisor for the Coahoma County School District. She was principal at Friars Point Elementary School, assistant principal at D.M. Smith Middle School in Cleveland and principal at Parks Elementary School in Cleveland.

Pernell also worked for many years as a reading consultant for the Mississippi Department of Education. She has written reading curriculum for reading teachers throughout the state and has served as a reading coordinator and trainer for middle school reading teachers throughout North Mississippi.

Survivors include her husband, James Pernell; son Mahlon Pernell; two stepsons, Randy Pernell of Shreveport, La., and Mark Pernell of Moscow, Idaho; her parents, Chafik and Louise Chamoun of Clarksdale; her brothers Robert Chamoun of Memphis and Paul Chamoun of Conway, Ark.; her sisters Liz Spurlock of Ashland, Ky., Paula Jackson of Clarksdale and Mona Henderson of Tyler, Texas.

The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, friends send memorials to the “Vivian Pernell Library Fund” at Batesville Intermediate School, 200 College St., Batesville, MS  38606.