Edith Mae Black

PERRIS, Calif.—Edith Mae Black, 82, formerly of Batesville, died Wednesday, October 7, 2009.

Services were Saturday at Macedonia M.B. Church. Rev. Zannie Leland officiated. Burial was in Concord Cemetery. Cooley’s Mortuary had charge.

Black, born Oct. 22, 1927, to the late Isacc Morris and Lillian Figgs Morris, was a member of Macedonia  M.B. Church.

Survivors include: four sons, Leroy R. Black of L.A., Calif., Curtis B. Black of Perris, Calif., Robert Earl Black and Hubert Carl Black, both of Carson, Calif.; two sisters,  Ruth E. Hamilton of Batesville and Madis Welch of Highland, Calif.; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

       

John Melmoth Fleming Jr.

 

MARKS—       John Melmoth Fleming, 68, Quitman County Democrat editor and publisher John Melmoth Fleming Jr., suffered  a massive heart attack and died at his home in Marks on Sunday, October 18, 2009.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at Marks Presbyterian Church, where he was a member and  a deacon. Burial will be in Marks Cemetery. The Rev. Dr. Laurie V. Jones Jr., church pastor will officiate. Kimbro Funeral Home of Marks has charge.

He leaves his wife of 42 years, Josephine (Josie) Burns Fleming of Marks; a daughter, Jessica Crawford, and her husband, Ray, and their daughter, Caroline, of  Lambert; two sons, John Henry Fleming and his wife, Linda, of Oxford; and Giles Fleming and his wife, Paige, and their daughters, Addison and Mallory, of Batesville; and a sister, Harriett Dickson and her husband, Charles, of Marion, Va.

Born November 21, 1940, in Spartanburg, S.C., he was the son of the late Dr. John Melmoth Fleming and Caroline Miller Fleming of Spartanburg.

He was preceded in death by his brother, James Harry Fleming, also of Spartanburg.

He  attended Spartanburg public schools and was a graduate of Darlington School for Boys in Rome, Ga, where he was a member of the tennis team. He was a graduate of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where he lettered on the swimming team and was a member of Kappa Alpha Order. He also attended the University of South Carolina School of Law. He served in the South Carolina Air National Guard.

Before moving to Marks, John was an accounts manager for NCR (earlier known as the  National Cash Register Co.) in Spartanburg, and then in Atlanta, Ga.

He moved to Marks with his wife and family when his mother-in-law, the late Jessie Connerly Burns, died October 29, 1972. Mrs. Burns had been editor and publisher of The Quitman County Democrat since April 1964, after the death of her husband, Henry Buckley Burns. Mr. Burns had been editor and publisher since 1938.

The Flemings made their home in Marks, raised their family here, and continued publishing and editing The Quitman County Democrat.

Over the past 37 years John served on the boards of many community and civic organizations, some now defunct, such as the Quitman County Literacy Council, the Marks Chamber of Commerce, a local chapter of A Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, Habitat for Humanity, the Marks Jaycees, and others.

He helped establish the Falcon Jaycees during the 1970’s. If asked to serve on a project benefiting the community, especially those in need, he did so.

He was co-chair of the committee for the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976.

He was serving with the Quitman County Homeland Security Commission. He was a past president of the Marks (now Quitman County) Rotary Club, and also served as secretary of Wilson Lake Country Club, as well as being in charge of the swimming pool at WLCC for many years. He also enjoyed sports, particularly tennis.

As a young man he was an avid outdoorsman and met his wife in Yellowstone National Park, where both were working during summer vacation from college, he as a fishing guide on Yellowstone Lake. When his children were young, he spent many Sunday afternoons with them and their friends on his pontoon boat at Enid Lake. He also enjoyed hunting with friends and his sons when he was a younger man.

Though his wife is a native of Marks, having lived here all but eleven years of her life, he was acquainted with more Quitman Countians than she.

He was “the picture man” to many of the public, as he did not turn down requests to attend, photograph and publicize local events. He actively supported  sports and other worthy programs at all the schools in Quitman County. He took his job as advocate for his community seriously.

His family requests memorials be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.