Arthur Stanley Biggers

BATESVILLE—Arthur Stanley Biggers, 47, died Friday, September 11, 2009, at his residence.

Services will be held Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in Batesville at 3:30 p.m. Ray Nowell Funeral Home has charge.

Biggers, born Oct. 18, 1961, to Dorothy Lefanowicz Grant Jones of Harmontown and the late J.D. Grant, was a mechanic and volunteer fire department chief at Mt. Olivet Fire Department.

Survivors along with his mother include: his wife, Deborah Biggers of Batesville; one daughter, Ashley Nicole Biggers of Batesville; one son, Brandon Andrew Powell of Glen; two sisters, Patricia Grant Thomson of Germany and Victoria Grant Hart of Harmontown; five brothers, Robby John Grant of Laws Hill, Wayne Grant of Charleston, Dennis Jones and David Grant of Harmontown; one grandchild, Andy Powell of Glen.

Memorials may be made to: Fire Fighters Relief Fund, P.O. Box 86, Batesville, Miss. 38606.

Annie Gant Mills

SARDIS—Annie Gant Mills, 89, died Friday, September 11, 2009, at Sardis Community Nursing Home in Sardis.

Services were Sunday at Wells Funeral Home Chapel. Rev. Kevin Crofford officiated. Burial was in Forrest Memorial Park. Wells Funeral Home had charge.

Mills was born April 1, 1920, in Lafayette County, to Finnel M. and Mary Trammel Gant.

Survivors include: four daughters, Jean Mills Roberson of Pope, Louise Mills Rose, Pamela Mills Scott and her husband, Jimmy and Penny Mills Daniels and her husband, Doug, all of Batesville; five sons, Alfred E. Mills, Jarrell L. Mills and his wife, Kathy and Kenneth R. Mills and his wife, Susan, all of Batesville, Gary L. Mills and his wife, Margaret of Senatobia and James D. Mills and his wife, Nona of Harrisonburg, La.; 26 grandchildren; 43 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.

COMO—Gertrude Johnson “Trudy” Sledge, 76, died Thursday, September 10, 2009, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.

Services were held Saturday at the Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Como. Burial was in Friendship Cemetery. Pate-Jones Funeral Home had charge.

Sledge, born to the late Mr. and Mrs. David Voss Johnson of Memphis, was a member of the Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Como. She graduated with a BA from Hollins College in Roanoke, Va. and a Master of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. She was active in church business and in the Panola County community for many years.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Norfleet Ruffin “N.R..” Sledge of Como.

Survivors include: two daughters, Julia S. Bryan and Meriwether S. Eisenhard; one son, Norfleet Ruffin Sledge Jr.; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 391, Como, Miss. 38619.

BATESVILLE—Martha Lou Guest Smith, 75, died Wednesday, September 9, 2009, at Golden Living Center Nursing Home.

Services were Friday at Pate-Jones Funeral Home. Burial was in Truslow Cemetery near Sarah.

Survivors include: four daughters, Ann Perkins of Sardis and Peggy Brown of Lander, Wyo. and Mary Stephens of Sarah, and Elizabeth Ainsworth of Greenwood; two sons,   Robert Smith of Sarah and William Smith of Bassett, Ark.; one sister, Virgie Grissom of Tutwiler; 17 grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren.

OXFORD—Teresa Lowe Ferrell, 45, died Sunday, September 9, 2009, after a five month battle with cancer.

Services were held Saturday at Pate-Jones Funeral Home in Senatobia. Burial was in Singleton Springs Cemetery. Pate-Jones Funeral Home had charge.

Survivors include: her parents, Bill and Martha Lowe of Sardis; one daughter, Abby Red of Cleveland; one son, Zach Red of Oxford; one sister, Angie Woolfolk; her brother-in-law, Don Woolfolk and her grandparents, Robert and Trudie Rich and Harold and Claudia Lowe.

SARDIS—Climmie T. Valentine, 69, died Sunday, September 6, 2009, at her residence.

Services were Saturday at Mt. Zion M.B. Church in Sardis. Burial was in Cistern Hill Church Cemetery in Como. Felix Cauthen Funeral Home had charge.

Valentine was a member of Mt. Zion M.B. Church in Sardis.

Survivors include: three sons, Timothy Valentine of Como, Terry Valentine and Malcolm Valentine, both of Sardis; one sister, Ruby Valentine Cornelius of Euclid, Ohio and one brother, Leigh D. Wright of Memphis and two grandchildren.

 
SARDIS—Dwight Lane Vardaman,65, died Thursday, September 10, 2009, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Services were Sunday at Ray-Nowell Funeral Home. Burial was in Forrest Memorial Park. Ray-Nowell Funeral Home had charge.

Vardaman, born March 3, 1944, to the late Marcus Talmadge Vardaman and Laurel Dathender McCoy Vardaman, was a Baptist and an Army veteran of the Vietnam War. He was a tool and die maker for Standard Equipment Company.

Survivors include: his wife, Martha Brewer Scruggs Vardaman; two sons, Kelly Vardaman of Houston, Texas and Marcus Vardaman of Tulsa, Okla.; one step-son, Tommy Scruggs of Sardis; one sister, Margaret Mardis of Lake Village, Ark.; one brother, Jerry Vardaman of Leland; two grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.