Marie Simmerman Cox

SARDIS–Marie Simmerman Cox, 77, died Saturday, March 28, 2009, at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Graveside services will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Hebron Cemetery in Sardis. Rev. Terry Tribble will officiate. Visitation will be held today from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Wells Funeral Home. Wells Funeral Home has charge.

Cox, born Jan. 17, 1932, to the late Ed and Mary Alford Simmerman, was a former sewing machine operator for James Yelton. She was a member of Hebron Baptist Church and a homemaker.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence P. Cox.

Survivors include: one daughter, Marilyn Taylor Dew of Sardis; one son, Russell Gene Taylor of Sardis; one brother, Evander Simmerman of Sardis; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

COURTLAND–Ottis Leon Herring, 77, died Thursday, March 26, 2009, at his residence.

Graveside services were Saturday at Forrest Memorial Cemetery. Dr. Tommy Williamson officiated. Wells Funeral Home had charge.

Herring, born Oct. 17, 1931, in Union County, to the late Carl and Doyle McDonald Herring, was a member of Pisgah United Methodist Church in Courtland. He retired from Talbot Brothers Construction Company as a road and bridge foreman after 30 years of service.

Survivors include: his wife, Merle Beavers Herring of Batesville; three daughters, Marilyn Elliott of Greenwood, Anne Beard of Courtland and Sandra Staten of Charleston; one son, Mike Dorris of Oakland; one sister, Margie Clark of Batesville; one brother, Carl Herring Jr. of Silvercreek; eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

The family requests that memorials be made to the American Cancer Society.

NORFOLK, Va.– Kenneth Burl Reid,  37, formerly of Batesville, died on Monday, March 23, 2009, at his home in Norfolk.

Services will be held today at 2 p.m. at Wells Funeral Home. Rev. Doug Pepper will officiate. Burial will be in Longtown Cemetery in Crenshaw with full military honors. Wells Funeral Home has charge.

Reid was born July 26, 1971, in Beaumont, Texas, to William Burl and Mary Crawford Reid. He served 20 years in the U.S. Navy with the rank of E-6 Petty Officer. He served three tours of service in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia and seven months of Sea Duty. He was named “Shore Sailor of the Year 2006 and 2007.

Survivors include: his wife, Machelle Maxey Reid of Norfolk; two daughters, Haley Machelle Reid and Hannah Terri Reid; one son, Bradley Leon Reid, all of Norfolk; his mother, Mary Crawford Reid Anderson of the Mt. Olivet Community; his father, William Burl Reid and step-mother, Jackie of Batesville; one sister, Teresa Lynn Reid Trimm of Mt. Olivet and one brother, William Troy Reid of Denmark.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.– Earl Willard Sorrells, 81, formerly of Batesville, died Saturday, March 21, 2009.

Services were held Wednesday at McDonald Funeral Home in Cumming, Ga. Burial was National Cemetery with military honors.

Sorrells, born Jan. 5, 1928, to the late Clyde and Gladys Sorrells, was a member of the First Baptist Church in Cumming. He was an ordained deacon, a member of the Gideon’s for 38 years and a Mason for 50 years. As owner of Sorrells Construction Company, he was the general contractor for many Forsyth County Parks and projects.

Survivors include: his wife, Dorothy Ann “Dottie” Sorrells of Cumming; one son, Earl Ray Sorrells of Little Rock; one daughter, Sandra Ann Wise of Alpharetta, Ga.; one brother, Jesse Sorrells of Landsthuhl, Germany; five sisters, Nannie Seale Mayfield of Oxford, Emma Jean Griffis of Sardis, Bobbye Hardin of Batesville, Sue Pranker of Jacksonville, Ark. and Lorraine Tramel of Batesville; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Robert Earl Wilkie

SARDIS– Robert Earl Wilkie, 81, died Thursday, March 26, 2009, at his residence.

Services were Saturday at First Baptist Church in Sardis. Burial was in Rose Hill Cemetery. Rev. Howard Beam and Rev. Ray Legge officiated. Ray-Nowell Funeral Home had charge.

Wilkie, born June 11, 1927, to the late Stanford Earl Wilkie and Lena Rivers Smith Wilkie, was a member of the First Baptist Church in Sardis where he was a deacon and president of his Sunday School class.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Frances M. Wilkie.

Survivors include: his wife, Rebecca Sue Scruggs Wilkie of Sardis; one daughter, Joyce Inman and her husband, Cliff of Sardis; two sons, Robert M. Wilkie and his wife, Sally of Sardis and Mike Wilkie and his wife, Jennifer of Batesville; two brothers, Ray Wilkie and his wife, Nellie of Mountain View, Ark. and Lynn Wilkie of Sardis; four grandchildren, Stan Inman, Thomas Wilkie, Jordan Wilkie and Mac Wilkie and two great-grandchildren, Eli Inman and Lorna Grace Inman.

Memorials may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.