Obituaries 2-8-08

Published 12:00 am Friday, February 8, 2008

SARDIS––Betty L. Brooks, 65, died Thursday, January 24, 2008, at Baptist Desoto Hospital.

Services were Saturday at Henderson Funeral Home Chapel in Sardis. Burial was in Harmonia Cemetery. Henderson Funeral Home had charge.

Brooks, born March 27, 1942, to the late James Harris and the late Bernice Stitts Brooks, attended North Panola, was a domestic worker and a member of Harmonia M.B. Church in Sardis.

Survivors include: her husband, Marvin Brooks of Sardis; one daughter, Janis Brooks of Sardis; five sons, Anthony Brooks and Michael Brooks of Anderson, Ind., Darrin Brooks, Shorn Brooks and Jimmie Brooks of Hattiesburg; five sisters and four brothers.

TUPELO––Louise  Roberts Pope, 91, died Friday, February 1, 2008 in Tupelo. She was a longtime resident of Batesville.

Graveside services were held Sunday, Feb. 3 at Batesville Magnolia Cemetery. Dickins Funeral Home had charge of arrangements.

She was born Feb. 16, 1916 in Ben Lomond, Ark. to the late John Lee Roberts and Lona Spigner Roberts. She was an active member of Batesville Presbyterian Church and was a charter member of Batesville Garden Club.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James Franklin Pope; grandson Robert Rowland Black Jr.; brothers John Lee Roberts Jr., Wayne Spigner Roberts and William Guy Roberts.

She is survived by her daughters Linda Pope Roulston of Knoxville, Tenn. and Jane Pope Black of Tupelo; three grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Memorials may be sent to Batesville Presbyterian Church.

SPOKANE, WASH.– Batesville native Julian Erskine LeMaster, 87, of Otis Orchards, Wash., died January 30, 2008 in a Spokane hospital.

A funeral service for the pastor and Bible teacher will be held Saturday, February 9 at Thornhill Valley Chapel in Spokane Valley, Wash. Burial with military honors will take place February 11 at Pines Cemetery.

LeMaster was born December 24, 1920, in Batesville to Allen Erskine and Ida Keating LeMaster. 

He served as president of his class at Batesville High School, graduating in 1939.  He attended Mississippi State University, Mississippi Baptist College and Trinity Theological Seminary in Evanston, Indiana, where he received a bachelor’s degree in religious education and a master’s degree in sacred literature. 

As an Army Staff Sergeant in World War II, LeMaster was awarded the Air Medal for his service from November 24, 1944, to January 30, 1945, as an aerial engineer on board the Douglas C-54 air cargo transport.  He served with the India-China Division of the Army Air Transport Command.  The award was made upon completion of 150 hours of operational flight in transport aircraft over the dangerous and difficult India-China air routes.  He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

LeMaster served as a pastor for churches in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Washington.  He moved to Spokane with his wife, Faye, in 1983.  He served as the pastor of Otis Orchards Community Church from 1983 to 1989 and then began a Bible study ministry in his home which continued until his death.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Faye Speer, in 1992, originally from Sardis, and by his brother, Allen Ray LeMaster, of Houston, Texas.

He is survived by his son, James LeMaster, of Omega, Wis; three grandchildren and four great grandchildren; and his sister Sara (LeMaster) Linton of Tupelo.

Memorials may be sent to International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, P.O. Box 96105, Washington, DC 20090-6105.  An online tribute can be found at www.mem.com. 

BATESVILLE––Mattie Adams Moore, 82, died Monday, February 4, 2008, at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Services are Saturday at 11 a.m. at Mt. Olive M.B. Church in Batesville. Rev. W.L. Nash will officiate. Burial will be in Macedonia Cemetery. Visitation will be today 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary and Saturday 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. at Mt. Olive M.B.. Church. Cooley’s Mortuary has charge.

Moore, born Oct. 29, 1925, to the late Mack Adams and the late Louella Gray, was a homemaker and a member of Mt. Olive M.B. Church.

Survivors include: her niece who cared for her, Manolia Morris of Batesville; one sister, Mamaie Frieson of Chicago; one brother, A.D. Adams of Birmingham, Ala.; seven grandchildren and a host of great-grandchildren.

BATESVILLE––Mary Sanford, 92, died Sunday, February 3, 2008, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Services are Saturday at 1 p.m. at Johnson Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church in Courtland. Rev. Larry Key will officiate. Burial will be in Eureka A.M.E. Zion Cemetery in Courtland.Visitation will be today 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Johnson Chapel A.M.E. Church. Serenity Funeral Home of Hodges and Serenity Oxford has charge.

Sanford, born Aug. 17, 1915, to the late Robert Ford and Annie Bell Mcgee, was retired from Fitts Manufacturing where she was a line operator. She was a member of Eureka A.M.E. Zion Church in Courtland where she was a missionary and a church mother.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Walter Sanford.

Survivors include: two daughters, Raymond Louise Sanford of Courtland and Joyce Lloyd of Oxford; one sister, Annie Louise Herring of Courtland; 19 grandchildren; 41 great-grandchildren and 46 great-great-grandchildren.

BATESVILLE––Ludie Breazeale Wardlaw, 89, died Thursday, February 7, 2008, at Tri-Lakes Medical Center. Funeral services will be Saturday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. at Batesville First United Methodist Church. Mrs. Wardlaw will lie in repose at her home at 204 Creek Drive for visitation this evening and at 1 p.m. Saturday at the church.

Wells Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.

 A complete obituary for Mrs. Wardlaw will be published in the Tuesday, February 12 edition of The Panolian.

CHARLESTON––Jawanda Maxine Wilkinson, 64, died Monday, February 4, 2008, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Services were Wednesday at the Womble Funeral Home Chapel. Rev. Shelly Scallions officiated. Burial was in the Wilkinson Cemetery near Charleston.

Wilkinson was born June 2, 1943, in Aubrey, Ark., to the late James Earl Jackson and the late Leona Burch Jackson.

She was preceded in death by one brother, Kenneth Jackson.

Survivors include: her husband, David Eugene Wilkinson; one daughter, Wanda Clark of Oakland; four sons, James Eugene Wilkinson Sr. of Grenada, Daniel David Wilkinson of Charleston, Lester Andrew Wilkinson Sr. of Iuka and Joe Max Wilkinson of Enid; three sisters, Blanch Easley of West Helena, Ark., Rose Marie Taylor of Batesville, Ark. and Louisa Jackson Jones of Montevallo, Ala.; two brothers, Johnny Burch of Russelville, Ark. and James Earl Jackson Jr. of Batesville, Ark.; nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to: LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center, P.O. Box 41817, Memphis, Tenn. 38174 or Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi, P.O. Box 946, Oxford, 38655.