BATESVILLE – Sara S. Byars, 83, died Monday, June 11, 2012.

Graveside services were held Thursday, June 14, at Forest Hill East Funeral Home Cemetery. Forest Hill Funeral Home of Memphis had charge.

Byars was retired frm General Electric after 28 years of service. She was a member of Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Rueben C. Byars.

Survivors include: daughters, Patsy Vick, Susie Krupcznski, Mary Curtright and Wanda Gray; 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren and nine great-great grandchildren and one brother, Kempie Smith.

SARDIS – Emma J. Hurt,  65, died Friday, June 22, 2012, at the Sardis Nursing Home.

Services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at Pleasant Green M.B. Church Activity Center in Sardis. Pastor W.O. McKinney will officiate. Visitation will be held Thursday from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Eddie Robinson and Sons Funeral Home.

Survivors include: one son, Elton Hurt of Senatobia; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

BATESVILLE — Wilbur Ray Manning, 76, died Saturday, June 23, 2012 at Baptist Memorial Hospital of North Mississippi.

Services were held Monday at Shady Grove Baptist Church with Reverend Loyd Shelton officiating. Burial was in Shady Grove Cemetery.

Manning, born September 3, 1935 in New Albany, to the late Orlando Chess and Mattie Blanch Manning, served his country and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army while obtaining a rank of Private First Class. Ray was a faithful member of Shady Grove Baptist Church. Following his military service, he went on to work for Emerson Electric and Caterpillar in Oxford,  as a plant superintendent and engineer before retiring.
Survivors include: his wife, Betty Jean Browning Manning of Batesville; two daughters, Martha Jean Manning Gaines of Courtland and Terrie Manning Harwood of Batesville; two sons, David Ray Manning and Darrell Wayne Manning both of Batesville; one sister, Verna Faye Manning Warren of Southaven; 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
The family requests that memorials be made to Shady Grove Baptist Church or the charity of the donors choice.

Dr. Chester Warren Masterson, Sr. of Vicksburg, died Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at River Region Medical Center.  He was 79.  He was born in Quitman County, MS on February 26, 1933 to Chester Lee Masterson and Laura Kate Cook Masterson.

Dr. Masterson graduated from Crowder High School, Northwest Mississippi Junior College and the University of Mississippi.  He received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Tennessee in Memphis, cum laude graduate, 1960, and a member of Phi Rho Sigma.  He did his internship at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.  He completed his General Surgery Residency at Kennedy Veteran’s Hospital in Memphis and ENT-EENT Hospital at Tulane University at New Orleans.  Dr. Masterson served in the U. S. Army with two years of service in Japan in the Medical Corps during the Korean Conflict.

Dr. Masterson had his first practice in Batesville, MS for 2 years before moving to serve the Vicksburg community and surrounding areas for 31 years as a practicing Otolaryngologist.  He served as the 1998-1999 Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi State Medical Association, having served on that Board for six years.  Past President of West Mississippi Medical Society, the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat section of MSMA and the Mississippi Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Association.  Former trustee of the Columbia Vicksburg Medical Center and member of the Medical Staff Executive Committee of Parkview Regional Medical Center.  Former member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, the Louisiana- Mississippi O & O Society and the Mississippi Chapter of the American College of Surgeons.  He served on the Board of Directors for Medical Access to Rural Care.

He has been a member of the Rotary Club since moving to Vicksburg in 1966, serving as President in 1986-1987 and is a Paul Harris Fellow recipient.  Longtime member of the Warren Central Viking A Club, servicing as President in 1976-1977.  Served as a missionary doctor in Mexico providing free clinics two summers.  Member of the Free Masons of New Orleans for 49 years.  Volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 105 over 10 years, and served on the Board of Directors of the YMCA.  He served in the House of Representative for 2 terms, 2000 – 2008, on numerous committees such as Public Health & Welfare, County Affairs, Insurance, and Judiciary B.  He played semi-pro baseball for the Memphis Chickasaws during his college years.

Dr. Masterson is a member of First Baptist Church of Vicksburg, served as Chairman of the Deacons, Chairman of the Finance Committee, the Executive Committee, and taught youth Sunday School for many years.

Preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Ellis Lee Masterson, and a sister, Patricia Grace Masterson Cook, both of Batesville, MS.

Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Martha Ann Gordon Masterson.  Two sons and two daughters, Cathy Lynn Schultz of Denham Springs, LA; Chester Warren Masterson, Jr. of Collierville, TN; Cindy Busby (Eddie) of Vicksburg and Dr. Robert Calvin Masterson (Dana) of Vicksburg.  Grandchildren Tracy Lynn Schultz Hood (Daniel) of Greenwell Springs, LA; Robert Gregg Schultz and Stephen Blake Schultz of Denham Springs, LA; Chester Warren Masterson, III of Jackson, MS; Taylor Tullos Masterson of Collierville, TN; Paul Wade Brewer II, Lauren Nicole Brewer, and Darin Keith Busby of Vicksburg; Joshua Gordon Masterson, Jonah Reed Masterson, Anna McKenzie Masterson, Olivia Kate Masterson, and Sophie Grace Masterson of Vicksburg.  Brothers William D. Masterson (Jan) of Alexandria, VA; Ronnie L. Masterson (Helen) of Batesville, MS; Pritchard A. Masterson (Jo Ann) of Brandon, MS; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Services were Saturday, June 23, 2012, at First Baptist Church at 11:00 a.m.  Burial was in Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery.  Visitation was held Friday, June 22, 2012 at First Baptist Church from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Pallbearers were his grandsons Joshua Masterson, Jonah Masterson, Gregg Schultz, Blake Schultz, Warren Masterson, Paul Wade Brewer, and Darin Busby.

Honorary pallbearers were Mark Chaney, J. W. Carter, Harry Woods, Ken Martin, Jesse Davenport, and his Boaz Sunday School class.

Memorials may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN  38105-1942; Baptist Children’s Village, P. O. Box 27, Clinton, MS  39060-0027 or MS Sheriff’s Boys and Girls Ranch, 4285 Beaver Dam Rd., Lucedale, MS  39452.
paid obituary