PLANT CITY, Fla. – Barney Wayne “Granddaddy” McCullar, 59, formerly of Batesville, died Friday, November 18, 2011.

Services were held Wednesday, November 23 at Hopewell Funeral Home in Plant City. Burial was in Hopewell Memorial Gardens.

McCullar was retired from Lykes Brothers in Plant City as a machine operator and was a member of Joseph Warren Masonic Lodge No. 0071, F&AM.

He was preceded in death by his father, Rufus McCullar and a sister, Susan Elaine McCullar.

Survivors include: his wife of 28 years, Valerie; his mother, Inez McCullar of Batesville and his children, Susie Sutton and her husband, Ronnie, Kecia Sirmans and her husband Derrrel, Megan McCullar and her husband, Chucky, Courtney Hammock and her husband, Chris and Christopher McCullar; brothers, Bobby McCullar and Billy McCullar; seven grandchildren, Austin, Ivy, Aaron, Caleb, Bubbie, Abby and Shelby.

BATESVILLE – Roosevelt Otts, 79, died Sunday, December 4, 2011, at the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis.

Services were held Thursday, December 8, at Shady Grove Baptist Church with interment in the church cemetery with full military honors. Wells Funeral Home had charge of arrangements.

Otts was born March 2, 1932 in Beaverton, Ala. to the late Fred and Rena Holliday Otts. He was member of Shady Grove Baptist Church.

On October 8, 1948, Otts enlisted in the U.S. Army in Grenada, and upon retirement on November 1, 1979 had obtained the rank of major.

He served in the Vietnam War and the Korean Conflict where he received the Bronze Star. He was one of the original Green Berets under President John F. Kennedy.

After retirement he taught R.O.T.C. in Memphis for 21 years at Southside High School. Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Christine Avis Otts of Batesville; one daughter, Catherine Otts Carithers of Horn Lake; one son, Alan Dale Otts of Covington, Tenn.; one sister, Carolyn Otts Crandall of Florence, Ala.; 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

BATESVILLE – Laura “Baby” Virginia Sledge Smith, 93, formerly of Sardis and Chicago, Ill., died Saturday, December 3, 2011, at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Services will be held Saturday, December 10, at 10 a.m. at Bluff Springs M.B. Church in Sardis with interment at the church cemetery.  Visitation will be held Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary and on Saturday from 10-11 a.m. prior to the service. Pastor L.C. Smith will officiate.  Cooley’s Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Ms. Smith was born April 16, 1918, in Sardis to James W. Sledge and Jessie Brown Sledge.  She was a retired factory worker and member of Bluff Springs M.B. Church in Sardis.

Survivors include her sister, Orah Ballentine of Chicago, Ill. and cousin who cared for her, Alvah Sanders of Sardis.

BATESVILLE – Sarah Louise Thomas, 83, died Tuesday, December 6, 2011, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Services will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at Concord  M.B. Church. Edward S. Thomas will officiate. Visitation will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary and Sunday from 1 p.m. until service time at the church. Burial will be in thechurch cemetery. Cooley’s Mortuary has charge.

Thomas, born March 28, 1928, in Belhaven, N.C., to the late Harold Boyd and Ruth Boyd, was a homemaker and a member of Concord M.B. Church where she was in the choir.

Survivors include: two nephews, Dennis Gaines of Dana, Calif. and Terry Corley of Batesville; one aunt, Lula Black of Batesville; five sisters-in-law, Wilkie Hentz, Lucille Cooper, Irma L. Martin, all of Batesville, Lula B. Child of Oktaha, Okla. and Annie C. Smith of Tulsa; one brother-in-law, Stanley Thomas of Batesville.

CHICAGO- A local graveside service is planned on Tuesday, December 13, for RaSheda Denise Tucker, 35, who died Monday in Chicago.

She was the daughter of Earl Tucker Jr. and Joycee Tucker of Oak Park, Illinois and granddaughter of Earl and Eva Tucker of Courtland. She is also survived by sons Eric and Emmanuel Tucker, both of Chicago, as well as a host of uncles, aunts and cousins, including many in Panola County. Tucker attended South Panola High School.

A graveside service at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Spring Hill Asa M. B. Church will follow a funeral service in Chicago. Rev. Louis Wilson will officiate. Delta Burial Service has charge of arrangements, which were incomplete at presstime. A complete obituary will be published next week.

BATESVILLE – Dytis “Skape” Vance, age 88, of Batesville, died Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at her daughter’s home in Chicago.

Funeral services are incomplete at this time and will be announced later by Eddie Robinson Funeral Home who has charge of arrangements.

She is the widow of Lockwood Vance.

Survivors include two daughters, Irma Baker and Bobbie Sharon Smith, both of Chicago; two sons, Ricky Brown of Batesville and Geronie Vance of Sardis; a grandson she raised, Robert Rydell Brown of Batesville; one sister, Letha Bean of Batesville, and one brother, Master “Bob” Bean of Courtland, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.