Minnie Jane Ballard

COMO–Minnie Jane Ballard, 72, died Monday, January 10, 2011.

Services will be held Saturday at noon at Hunter’s Chapel Baptist Church in Como. Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. until service time and also Friday from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. at Rodgers Funeral Home. Burial will be in Hunters Chapel Cemetery in Como. Rodgers Funeral Home has charge.

Ballard was a factory worker.

Survivors include: her husband, Richard Ballard; two daughters, Sandra Davis and Patricia Christans, both of Indiana; five sisters, Annie Partee of Ohio, Betsy Williams and Evone Simmons, both of Illinois, Dorothy Bell of Cordova, Tenn. and step-sister, Charlene Bowden of Como; four brothers, Arthur Simmons, Curtis Simmons and Ross Simmons, all of Minnesota, Dean Simmons of Illinois; two step-brothers, Franklin Bowden and Sylvester Bowden, both of Como; six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

LAMBERT–Jerrald Lee Bland Sr., 71, died Monday, January 10, 2011, at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Crowder Baptist Church. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until service time. Kimbro Funeral Home has charge.

Bland, born Feb. 25, 1939, to the late William D. and Alva Birchfield Bland, was a retired farmer and owner of Bland’s Foxhound Kennels and an army veteran.

He was preceded in death by his son, Shane Bland.

Survivors include: his wife of 51 years, Shelby Whitworth Bland; two sons, Jerry Bland and his wife, Janice of Lake Village, Ark. and Leonard Bland  and his wife, Beth of Olive Branch; two brothers, Cecil Bland and his wife, Carol of Pope and Hughie and his wife, Fay Bland of Pope; two sisters, Juanita Morrow of Pope and Bernita Miller of Batesville.

Jamie Renice Bobo

BATESVILLE–Jamie Renice Bobo, 42, died Friday, January 7, 2011, at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Viney Creek M.B. Church in Sardis. Pastor Ozine Thomas will officiate. Visitation will be held on Friday noon until 6 p.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary.

Bobo, born Dec. 5, 1968, in Batesville to the late James Wesley and the late Betty Bobo Houston, was a member of Viney Creek M.B. Church.

Survivors include: two sisters, Lois Bobo of Courtland and Sonya Stanford of Memphis; and one brother, John Bobo of Senatobia.

Robert “Bob” Whitten Graves Jr.

BATESVILLE–Robert “Bob” Whitten Graves Jr., 51, died Wednesday, January 12, 2011, at his residence.

Services will be held today at 2 p.m. at the Batesville Presbyterian Church with visitation beginning at noon prior to services at the church. Wells Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.

Graves, born Nov. 7, 1959, in Batesville to Mary Alice Faulkner Graves Thornton of Batesville and the late Robert Whitten Graves Sr., graduated from West Panola Academy in 1978. He went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi. He was a member of the Batesville Presbyterian Church where he was a former deacon. He was a Marketing Associate with Sysco.

He was preceded in death by his son, Robert Whitten Graves III, his father, Robert Whitten Graves Sr. and his step-father, William E. Thornton.

Survivors, in addition to his mother, include: his daughter, Alden Graves of Batesville; two sisters, Janey Graves Ginn of Batesville, Sara Graves of Batesville; one brother, Ben Graves of Batesville and a niece, Carly Hines of Birmingham, Ala.

The family requests memorials be sent to one of the following: Robert Whitten Graves III Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Magnolia Heights School, 1 Chiefs Drive, Senatobia, Miss. 38668 or Batesville Presbyterian Church Youth Fund, 121 Eureka Street, Batesville, Miss. 38606.

Gayle Arthur Johnson Jr.

SARDIS–Gayle Arthur Johnson Jr., 58, died Sunday, December 19, 2010, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Desoto.

Services were held Saturday, December 23 at Spring Hill Baptist Church in Oakland. Newsom’s Funeral Home had charge.

Johnson was born Oct. 27, 1952, to the late Gayle and the late Clestine Johnson.

Survivors include: one daughter, Amanda Gail Lard; one son, Jonathan Aaron Johnson, both of Alabama; three sisters, B. J. Duncan of Sardis, Brenda Russell of Water Valley and Barbara Stevens of Charleston; and one brother, James Johnson of Charleston.

MARKS–Funeral services were January 7, 2011, for Barbara Ann Matthews, 67, who died January 5 at Quitman County Hospital.

Matthews was a homemaker and a member of West Marks Baptist Church, where the funeral services were held, with the Rev. Kenneth Boyette officiating. Burial was in the Marks Cemetery. Kimbro Funeral Home had charge of arrangements.

Born in Pontotoc on January 29, 1943 to the late Arthur C. and Cubelle Gilbert Matthews, she leaves a sister, Joan Matthews Schiele of Lambert.

Memorials may be made to West Marks Baptist Church, 105 Collins Road, Marks, MS  38646.

Melinda Jane Smith Pennington

MARKS–Melinda Jane Smith Pennington, 48, died Monday, January 10, 2011, at her residence.

Services were Thursday at West Marks Baptist Church. Burial was in Marks Cemetery. Jarod Smith officiated. Kimbro Funeral Home had charge.

Pennington, born Jan. 20, 1962, in Jonesboro, Ark., to Ella Mae Smith of Marks and the late E.B. Smith, was a Baptist and a LPN for Continue Care Home Health.

Survivors along with her mother include: her husband, Barry Pennington of Marks; one daughter, Jane Pennington of Marks; one son, Jamie Pennington of Marks; two brothers, Billy Joe Smith of Cleveland and Gary Smith of Terry.

POPE–Henry Ray Skelton Jr., 49, died Monday, January 10, 2011, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Private memorial services will be announced at a later date by the family. Wells Funeral Home has charge.

Skelton, born May 2, 1961 in Birmingham to Henry Ray and Nancy Lane Moss Skelton of Memphis, was a production manager for Olshan Foundation Repair of Memphis. He restored cars and did wood work.

Survivors along with his parents include: his wife, Bonnie Dye Skelton of Pope; one daughter, Courtney Marie Skelton of Pope; three sisters, Linda Skelton Turner of Tupelo, Donna Skelton Hoff and Susan Skelton Parker, all of Memphis.

Jewel Upchurch Tatum

OXFORD–Jewel Upchurch Taturm, 71, died Thursday, January 6, 2011, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. She was the mother of Julia Tatum Bainer of Batesville and Joy Tatum Shideler of Sardis.

Services were Saturday at Union West Baptist Church. Rev. Billy Childs and Rev. Derek Starnes officiated. Burial was in Browning Cemetery. Waller Funeral Home had charge.

Tatum was a member of Union West Baptist Church.

Survivors along with her daughters include: her husband, Jim Q. Tatum Jr. of Oxford; two sons, Jim Q. Tatum III of Oxford and John Paul Tatum of Hernando; one sister, Joyce Upchurch French of Water Valley and five grandchildren.

The family asks memorials be made to Browning Cemetery Fund, 324 C.R. 321, Oxford, Miss. 38655 or Shipp Cemetery Fund, 23541 Hwy. 6 East, Batesville, Miss. 38606.

Marie K. Tyson

SLEDGE–Marie K. Tyson, 88, died Sunday, January 9, 2011, at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis.

Services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Askew Grove M.B. Church in Longtown. Burial will be in Longtown Memorial Cemetery. Felix Cauthen Funeral Home has charge.

Tyson was a Headstart teacher at Delta Hill.

Survivors include: her husband, Saint Ledger Tyson of Sledge; six daughters, Clarice Burts of Memphis, Marjorie Jones of Chicago, Irma Gross of Southaven, Bernice Robinson of Senatobia, Ann Tyson of Harthon, Calif. and Linda Tyson of Darling; six sons, Clarence Moten of Sledge, Edward Tyson of Milwaukee, Wis., Billy Ray Tyson of Falcon, Ricky Tyson of Coldwater, Mack Arthur Dismuke of Helen, Ark and Larry Tyson of Los Angeles, Calif.; 46 grandchildren; 48 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.

Sandra Jeanine Vorus

BATESVILLE – Mrs. Sandra J. Vorus, 72, died Sunday, January 9, 2011, from an auto accident on Eureka Road.

Memorial services will be held today at 2 p.m. at Wells Funeral Home.  Wells Funeral Home has charge.

Vorus was born July 5, 1938, in Kennett, Mo. to the late Emmett and Jean Davis. She worked as a Lab Director for 40 years at UT Bowld Hospital in Memphis. She loved animals and would like for memorials be sent to Panola County Humane Society, P O Box 1756, Batesville, MS 38606.

    Survivors include her daughters, Sandra Richardson and Susan E. Vorus, both of Pope; one son, Scott H. Vorus of Pope; one sister, June Davis, Kuykendall of Bartlett, Tenn.; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren

Jerrold Neil Wilson

BATESVILLE–Jerrold Neil Wilson, 62, died Sunday January 9, 2011, at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

    Graveside Services will be held Sunday, January 16, at 2 p.m. at Sparta Cemetery in Holcomb.  Wells Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

    Mr. Wilson was born March 27, 1948, in Grenada, to the late Buster and Nancy Clanton Wilson. He was a Sales Representative for Medical Electronics Distributors, Inc. in Kansas City, Mo. He graduated in 1971 from Birmingham Southern University on a baseball scholarship, where he was a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and in 1970 he was also a member of National Championship Dixie League in Birmingham, Ala.

    Survivors include his son, Matthew Scott Wilson of Birmingham; and brother, Myron Wilson of Batesville.

    The family requests memorials may be sent to Birmingham Southern University, Athletic Department, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, Ala. 35254.

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