JACKSON – Lisa Ann Berryhill, 56, died Tuesday, March 4, 2014, at her residence. She was the wife of Batesville native Bobby Berryhille and daughter-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Berryhill of Batesville.

Services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Richards Catholic Church in Jackson with visitation starting at 10 a.m. Visitation will also be held Friday from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Wright and Ferguson on Highland Colony. Burial will follow at Parkway Memorial Cemetery.

Berryhill, born Sept. 21, 1957, to Barbara Thompson and the late Alvin Thompson, was a graduate of Jackson Prep and attended the University of Mississippi where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority. She was a lifelong communicant of St. Richards Catholic Church.

Survivors along with her mother and husband, include: daughters; Bonnie Tyrone, Jenny Berryhill and Leslie Berryhill; sisters, Kim Besselievre, Kathy Ward and Amy Davidson; brothers, Todd Thompson and Richard Thompson and two grandchildren.

Memorials can be made to any Catholic charity.

William Marlin Bost

STARKVILLE – William Marlin Bost, who led the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service for 19 years, died Feb. 28 at age 90. He was the father of Julie Ferguson of Batesville.

Services were held Saturday, March 1 at the First United Methodist Church in Starkville. 

Bost, born in Ercu on Jan. 7, 1924, to the late Luther and Ida Russell Bost, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. 

After graduating from Mississippi State University in 1949, he taught agriculture to war veterans at Ecru. 

He began his career with the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service (MCES) as Assistant County Agent in Calhoun County and served as County Agent in Tippah County. After completing his master’s degree in Extension Administration from Cornell University in 1959, he moved to MSU, where he became director in 1962 and served in that capacity for 19 years. 

He earned the Ed.D degree in Administration of Higher Education from the University of Mississippi in 1970. 

As director of MCES, he led many initiatives, including consolidating all on-campus MCES offices. He began lobbying the state legislature in 1972 and received funding in 1974 for the complex which was completed in 1977 and now bears the name “William M. Bost Cooperative Extension Center.” 

His directorship of the MCES led many other states to model themselves after Mississippi’s organization. 

He was named Progressive Farmer magazine’s “Man of the Year” in 1980. Governor William Waller named him Outstanding Mississippian in 1980 for serving both rural and urban citizens’ needs. 

He was awarded two USDA Superior Service Awards and a National Association of County Agriculture Agents Distinguished Service Award. 

 He was president of the Oktibbeha County Co-Op board of directors. He was a Rotarian and a devoted member and Sunday school teacher at First United Methodist Church of Starkville. 

He was preceded in death by daughter Beth Nix.

Survivors, in addition to his daughter in Batesville, include: his wife of 71 years, Elaine Fields Bost; his sister, Alvis Dechello of West Haven, CT; sons Bill, Jr. of Vicksburg, Steven of Nashville and Larry Bost of Starkville; daughters Bonnie Lasker of Birmingham, Ala., and Suzanne Thompson of Mound City, Kansas and a host of grandchildren.

William Cecil Foster

HERNANDO – William Cecil Foster, 84, died Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Services were held Wednesday at Hernando Baptist Church. Burial was in Hernando Memorial Park Cemetery. Brentwood Funeral Home had charge.

Foster was a retired Baptist minister and businessman. 

Survivors include: his wife of 65 years, Mable Durham Foster; one daughter, Tina Fly of Germantown, Pam Marsh of Hernando and Robert “Bert” Foster of Hernando; brothers, Hugh Foster and Ira “Sonny” Foster; one sister, Lorene Hudson; eight grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hernando Baptist Church Building Fund in Hernando.

Benjamin Parker Gates Jr.

CRENSHAW – Services for Benjamin Parker Gates Jr., 90, will be Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 2 p.m. at the Crenshaw Baptist Church. He passed away Wednesday, March 5 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Crenshaw Baptist Church’s Family Life Center and again at 1 p.m. Saturday prior to the start of the service. Pate-Jones Funeral Home of Senatobia has charge of arrangement. Burial will be in Longtown Cemetery.

Gates was for over 50 years proprietor of B. P. Gates and Co. in Crenshaw. He was an Army veteran of World War II and a deacon and pillar of the Crenshaw Baptist Church for 64 years. 

He was a former aldermen, and former member of the Lion’s Club, the Crenshaw Volunteer Fire Dept. and the Gideons.

Gates was a brother-in-law of John Mothershed of Batesville.

Survivors, in addition to Mothershed, include his wife of 63 years, Cornelia Mothershed Gates; his daughter, Gayle Gates of Sardis and Crenshaw; his son, B. P. “Parker” Gates (Helen), III of Madison, a sister, Jo Ann Plunkett of Little Rock, AR, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A 90th birthday party organized for Gates by Crenshaw Baptist Church members last May turned into a homecoming event for many former residents of the northwest Panola County town and a celebration of his life, recalled his widow, who described him as a “devout Christian.” 

Though he would have celebrated completion of his 91st year this May, he did not covet another earthly milestone, she said.

Hilton Greer Griggs

WATER VALLEY – Hilton Greer Griggs, 89, died Monday, March 3, 2014, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Graveside services will be held today at 2 p.m. at Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley. Hal Johnson will officiate. Dickins Funeral Home has charge.

Griggs, born Aug. 25, 1924, in Leslie, Ark., to the late Alpha Greer Griggs and Golda Hilton Griggs, was a member of Batesville First Baptist Church and a retired frozen food buyer.

Survivors include: one daughter, Jane Emerson of Memphis and one son, Gary Bryant Griggs of Memphis.

Helen Louise Kyzer

WINONA – Helen Louise Kyzer, 76, died March 5, 2014, after an extended battle with pneumonia. 

Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 8 at Good Hope Baptist Church in Batesville. Pastor Tim Morgan will officiate. She donated her body to medical science. Dickins Funeral Home has charge of arrangements. 

Mrs. Kyzer, born Feb. 6, 1938, was a member of Good Hope Baptist Church. She was a former Sunday School teacher and served faithfully in Vacation Bible schools. She was a big promoter of missions outreach. 

Survivors include: her husband of 58 years, Bill Kyzer of Batesville; a daughter, Miriam Werquin, son-in-law Fred, and a grandson, Kaiden, of Broussard, La.; a sister, Nancy Faye Baker (Jimmy) of Batesville; and numerous nieces and nephews. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Helen’s name to the Annie Armstrong or Lottie Moon mission offerings through Good Hope Baptist Church, 1516 Good Hope Road, Batesville, Miss. 38606, or to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). 

Curtis Cordell Wall

MEMPHIS – Sardis native Curtis Cordell Wall, 56, died March 1 at Methodist Hospital in Memphis. 

Born January 12, 1958 to Ernest and Miriam Louise Wall, he worked for Coca Cola Enterprises in Memphis.

He was a graduate of Trezevant High School in Memphis and had been employed with Federal Express in Texas before returning to work in Memphis.

In addition to his parents, he leaves four brothers, Rickey Lee, James Ernest, Reginald Earl and Tierre Terrell.

He was the nephew of Gwen Pettis, Anna Wall, Edith Wall and Henry Kelly Wall of Sardis and Lizzie Graham of Batesville.

Visitation will be today from 4-7 at M.J. Edwards Funeral Home in Memphis. Services will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at Vollintine Baptist Church in Memphis, where he was a member. Burial will be at Viney Creek Cemetery in Sardis.

Bobby Lee Woodruff

WATER VALLEY -Bobby Lee Woodruff, 81, died Tuesday, March 4, 2014, at Yalobusha County Nursing Home.

Services will be held today at Wells Funeral Home. Burial will be in New Cleveland Cemetery in Cleveland. Visitation will be held 11 a.m. until service time at Wells Funeral Home.

Woodruff, born Dec. 11, 1932, in Bolivar County, to the late Charles B. Woodruff and Eva Mae Shelton, was retired from the Mississippi Department of Health, sanitation division. He was the former president of the Benoit Hunting Club as well as being active in the Ozark Hunting Club. He was a member and deacon at Skene Baptist Church.

Survivors include: two sons Joseph Woodruff of Water Valley and James Woodruff of Roanoke, Va.; two brothers C.S. Woodruff of Skene and Walter R. Woodruff of New Orleans; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.