Rev. O.D. Hester, 97, of Saltillo, passed away in the early morning hours of Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, at Creekside Manor Assisted Living in Saltillo.

The funeral service will be held Tuesday, Oct. 3,  at 1 p.m. in the Martin Willingham Memorial Chapel of Wells Funeral Home with Rev. Steve Cannon and Rev. Damon Tipton officiating. The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. until the service begins. Interment will take place in Magnolia Cemetery.

O.D. was born July 12, 1926 in Pontotoc,  to the late Luther Hester and Mollie McCright Hester. A minister for over 60 years, O.D. was the founder and Pastor of New Beginnings Pentecostal Church in Guntown. He also was the founding Pastor of the First United Pentecostal Church of Water Valley,  and previously pastored in Myrtle  as well. In his spare time, O.D. enjoyed squirrel hunting, fishing, and camping.

In addition to his parents, O.D. was preceded in death by three wives, Evelyn Hester, Itasco Hester, and Mary Ann Hester, two children, Bobby Daniel Hester and Patricia Ann Hester, and four siblings, Louise Province, Johnny Hester, Frances Switzer, and Donald Hester.

Those left to cherish his memory include his daughter Rita Cannon (Steve), of Batesville,  his son, Michael Hayden, one brother, LD Hester, seven grandchildren, Chad Ramsey (Debbie), Jennifer Schaefer (Tom), Vangi Taylor (Chris), Kandi Tipton (Damon), Mauri Brown, Jason Benbrook, and Tasha Hayden, 14 great-grandchildren, Wilson Ramsey, Dalton Johnson, Daven Johnson, Dylan Johnson, McKayLyneLunsford, AnnaLeigh Taylor, Kanon Tipton, Kade Tipton, Darlynn Grace Tipton, Jenna Brown, Danika Brown, Hallie Rae Brown, Colton Fox, and Aleah Criswell, and two great-great-grandchildren, Nash Johnson and Rosalind Taylor.