James Drew Mills, 80, passed away at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., on Sunday, July 5, 2020. No services are planned at this time. Coleman Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

 

Mr. Mills was born to Noel and Mary Elizabeth (Fisher) Mills in Batesville, Miss., on December 9, 1939. Mr. Mills will be missed by family who loved him dearly and remembers him fondly as a real jokester. From leaving rubber snakes in his lunchbox after work to throwing plastic alligators into a pan full of shelled peas, causing the peas to be thrown all over the room, he was always keeping things interesting.

Mr. Mills loved gardening and he loved animals. He had a real humane knack for keeping wild animals out of his garden each year by feeding them peppermint candy and winter green fresh gum.

Mr. Mills will be remembered as a loving man, a protector, a hard worker who had to be busy, a Christian who loved his church, and the greatest football fan of the South Panola Tigers. He leaves his family the legacy of hard work and taking care of your family. Mr. Mills was a retired carpenter and a member of Hosanna Family Worship.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley Moore Mills; sons, Mike (Diane) Mills, Jason Mills, Tony (Katherine) Wright; daughters, Vanessa (Sam) Wilbourn, Tammy (Terry) Griffin, Clara Jenkins, Lesa Petty; one brother, Sammy Mills; one sister, Sue Mills; 17 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren; and five great-great children. He was preceded in death by his parents, Noel and Mary Mills; two brothers, Douglas and Donald Mills; one son, Ronnie Mills; and one granddaughter, Elizabeth Wright.

 

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