CROWDER– Arthur Gray Coleman, 76, died Sunday, June 7, 2009, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at A.M.E. Zion Church. Burial will be in Crowder Cemetery. Rev. Sandy Parker will officiate. Eddie Robinson and Son Funeral Home has charge.

Coleman worked for Memphis Furniture. He was a member of First Oak Grove Church in Crowder.

SARDIS– Elizabeth Barnshaw “Betty” Fletcher, 76, died Tuesday, June 9, 2009, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Desoto.

Services were held Thursday at Ray-Nowell Funeral Home in Sardis. Rev. Dayna Goff officiated. Burial was in Rose Hill Cemetery. Ray-Nowell Funeral Home had charge.

Fletcher, born March 13, 1933, in Philadelphia to the late William Noble Barnshaw and Ethel Wheater Barnsaw, was a member of the Sardis United Methodist Church. She was a bookkeeper for South Panola School District.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert L. “Bob” Fletcher Sr.

Survivors include: two sons, Robert L. Fletcher Jr. and his wife Patsy of Marion, Ark. and William S. Fletcher and his wife Lyn of Spring Hill, Tenn.; one sister, Ruth Corbett of Philadelphia; one brother, William N. Barnshaw of Sunlakes, Ariz. and three grandchildren, Matt Fletcher, Noah Fletcher and Emma Fletcher.

Memorials may be made to Sardis United Methodist Church American Cancer Society.

BATESVILLE– James “Hawk” Hawkins, 79, died Tuesday, June 9, 2009, at his residence.

Services will be held today at 11 a.m. at Kimbro Funeral Home in Marks. Burial will be in Bethel Cemetery in Teasdale. Kimbro Funeral Home has charge.

Hawkins, born Feb. 13, 1930, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and a member of Crowder Assembly of God. He was a retired river boat employee.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Elois Hollinger Hawkins and one daughter, Elizabeth Tingle.

Survivors include: two daughters, Cindy Austin of Crowder and Marilyn Griffin of Batesville; five sons, James Harold Hawkins and Charles Hawkins, both of Crowder, Hugh Hawkins and Pat Hawkins of Batesville and Noel Hawkins of Teasdale; three sisters, Naomi Parker of Memphis, Shirley Jean Hawkins of Memphis and Nan Florence Ellis of Brownsville, Tenn.; one brother, Earl Hawkins of Crowder; 23 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

COMO– Ella Mae Jones, 82, died Sunday, June 7, 2009, at her residence in Como.

She was a native of Tate County. She was a member of Ruffin Grove MB Church where she served on the usher board. She was the widow of Elroy Jones.

Services will be held at noon on Saturday at Ruffin Grove M.B. Church in Como. Rev. Timothy Smith will officiate. Burial will be in Askew Grove Cemetery in Longtown. Visitation will be noon – 6 p.m. at the funeral home. Kenneth I. Roberson Funeral Home of Sardis has in charge.

Survivors include: one daughter; Bertha Phillips of Memphis; two sons, Louis Phillips Jr. of Patterson, N.J. and Willie D. Phillips of Memphis; four sisters, Bobbie Holiday and Willie Lee Brown both of Fort Wayne, Ind., Lillian Adams of Helena, Ark. and Earnestine Wilburn of Memphis; two brothers, Willie I. Franklin of Barlett, Tenn. and Cotsie Burton of Clarksdale; 13 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

COURTLAND– Catherine Riley, 72, died Sunday, June 7, 2009, at her residence.

Services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Springhill Asa M.B. Church. Louis Wilson will officiate. Eddie Robinson Funeral Home has charge.

She was preceded in death by her husband, David Earl Riley.

Survivors include: two sons, David Riley Jr. of Wisconsin and Leon Riley of Coldwater; one daughter, Annie Riley of Courtland; four sisters, Doris Myers of West Memphis, Ark., Annie Anderson of Memphis, Irene Cobbs and Donna Dash both of Louisiana; one brother, Scott Kincaid of Batesville a host of grandchildren and a host of great-great-grandchildren.

HERNANDO– Charles William “Bill” White, 83, died Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at his home.  He was retired from the family wholesale oil company business C. W. White, Inc., where he worked for over 50 years.

Services were Thursday at Water Valley First Baptist Church, where he had been a long time member before moving to Hernando. Interment was in Oak Hill Cemetery.

He attended Mississippi College and Tulane University and served in the U. S. Navy during World War II.

He was a Mason and was a member of the Lion’s Club and Hernando Baptist Church.

At First Baptist Church in Water Valley he served as deacon, Sunday School teacher, and sang bass in the Adult Choir.

 Survivors include his wife of nine years, Anita Coleman White; sons Tommy White of Water Valley and John White, formerly of Batesville, of Southaven; daughters Becky White Parker of Jacksonville, Fla., and Ginger White Wagner of Dacula, Ga; sister Alice White Stogner of Olive Branch; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents Thrace Cooper White and Carl Virgil White and his wife of 53 years, Jeanette Humphreys White, all of Water Valley.

Memorials may be made to the Baptist Children’s Village, through the Water Valley First Baptist Church.