POPE – Herman Delano Spearman, 66, died Monday, December 19, 2011, at Methodist University Hospital.

Services will be held Saturday, December 31 at 2 p.m. at Olive Ray M.B. Church. Rev. L.C. Smith will officiate. Burial will be in Olive Ray Church Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Friday at 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary and from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Mt. Zion A.M.E. Zion Church, 42 South Parkway in Memphis. Cooley’s Mortuary has charge.

Spearman, born June 20, 1945, in Memphis, to Erastus Spearman and Mary Payne, was a factory worker and a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Survivors include: his wife, Mary Lloyd Spearman of Pope; one son, Warren Freeman of Fort Worth, Texas; one daughter, Ashley Spearman Bradford of Pope and three sisters, Ruthie L. Spearman of Memphis, Annie D. Spearman of Encino, Calif. and Dr. Daisy L. Spearman of Los Angeles.

BATESVILLE – William (Bill) L. Watt, 75, died at his residence on December 21, 2011.

Funeral services were Friday, December 23 at Batesville First United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Martin Case and Rev. Pat Ludlam officiating. A graveside service was held Saturday, December 24 in the Garden of Memories located at Coleman Funeral Home in Oxford.

Watt attended University High School in Oxford and received his bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Mississippi in 1958. At Ole Miss he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega and Beta Alpha Psi. Watt served as operations director for the Mississippi Highway Department until1967 and later as vice president of Medicenters of America, Inc. until 1975.

At that time, he began his own company, Medical Management Associates, which owned and managed hospitals and nursing homes across the United States. Watt also served as administrator for South Panola Community Hospital. At the time of his death, Watt owned The Flower Company in Batesville and University Florist in Oxford.

Watt was an avid supporter of Ole Miss and its athletic department, being a member of the University’s Loyalty Foundation and a charter member of The Vaught Society. The Ole Miss men’s basketball team honored him by awarding the “Mr. Bill Award” to the player demonstrating courage, determination and perseverance.  

Watt was a member of First United Methodist Church of Batesville, where he had served on the administrative board and as treasurer, chairman of staff parish and was the Senatobia District lay leader. Watt had also served as chairman of the Batesville area Habitat for Humanity.

He was predeceased by his parents, Lester W. Watt and Lucille Davis Watt.

He is survived by his wife, Martha P. Watt of Batesville; daughter Judy Watt of Oxford; son W. Lee Watt of Flowood; four grandchildren; two sisters, Mary Watt Blaylock of Greenville, and Nancy Watt Diffee of Hernando.

Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Batesville or the University of Mississippi Loyalty Foundation.