Obituaries 12-18-09

Published 12:00 am Friday, December 18, 2009

Arthur Hillman Bacon

LEESBURG, Ga.­— Arthur Hillman Bacon, 86, formerly of Sardis, died Tuesday, December 15, 2009, at his residence.

Graveside services will be held Sunday at 3 p.m. at   Rose Hill Cemetery in Sardis. Rev. Allen Parnell will officiate. Visitation will be held from 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. at Ray Nowell Funeral Home in Sardis.

Bacon was an army veteran of WWII and a truck driver for Bacon Brothers Trucking Company. He was a member of American Legion Post No. 30.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Daisy P. Bacon.

Survivors include: two sons, Hillman Bacon and David Bacon, both of Lee County; two daughters, Rosemary Kirksey of Leesburg, Ga. and Louise Starnes of Albany, Ga.; 10 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

BATESVILLE— Emmett Dean Davis, 47, died Thursday, December 17, 2009, at his residence.

He was the husband of Carrie Ann Cosby Davis.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete at press time. Wells Funeral Home has charge.

DALLAS, Texas­— Friley Spruill, 49, died Thursday, December, 10, 2009. He was was the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. L. Stacy Davidson Sr. of Batesville.

Services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church. Rev. Billy Owen will officiate. Burial will be in Spruill family plot in Belzoni under the direction of Ray Funeral Home in Clarksdale. Visitaiton will be held today from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Ray Funeral Home and also from 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday at the church. Ray Funeral Home has charge.

He was born on November 9, 1960 in Belzoni, MS to Dr. and Mrs. Stacy Davidson of Cleveland.  He was an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Boy Scouts of American’s God and Country Emblem.  He graduated from Cleveland High School.

He obtained a BBA degree from the University of Mississippi. While attending, he was editor of both the Ole Miss Yearbook and Kappa Alpha Order’s rush book, secretary of Kappa Alpha Order and was voted into the Ole Miss Hall of Fame, which is one of the highest honors a student can achieve. While at Ole Miss he also was recognized as Who’s Who in American Universities.  He was on the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Committee and the 100 Chancellor’s Planning Committee.   Friley was a member of Who’s Who Order of Omega, the University of Mississippi’s Chancellor’s Trust, and was in the Guardian Society of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS.  He launched his career in commercial real estate and investments in Dallas some 20 years ago.  

Davidson was an entrepreneur who helped mentor many people during his career, according to Russell Yarborough, a friend and business associate, he helped underwrite area civic organizations and was a board member of  the Cattle Baron’s Ball benefiting the American Cancer Society, and also the Crystal Charity, and Idlewild Club. He was a co-producer of Broadway plays, one of which is “Next to Normal” which is currently running in New York and will be in production in London soon.  This play won 3 Tony Awards in 2008.  He was also a member of Highland Park United Methodist Church.

Survivors include his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Stacy Davidson of Cleveland; brother, John Stacy Davidson and his wife Laurie.

In Lieu of flowers memorials may be sent to the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital for Cancer Research, c/o public affairs, 2500 N. State St., Jackson, Miss. 39216.

BATESVILLE­— Emmett James “Rab” Irby, 84, died Tuesday, December 15, 2009, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi.

Services will be held Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Concord M.B. Church. Dr. Rubert Morgan will officiate. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held Friday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary and Saturday from 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. at Concord M.B. Church. Cooley’s Mortuary has charge.

Irby, born Oct. 1, 1925, to the late Edward Irby and Annie Mae Clemons, was a farmer, barber and school bus driver. He was a member of Concord M.B. Church and a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Survivors include: his wife, Bertha Irby of Batesville; five daughters, Flora Graham of Batesville, Yolinda Morgan of Pope, Connie Webb of Matteson, Ill., Portia Pugh of Milwaukee, Wis. and Geneeta Cosby of Milwaukee, Wis.; two sons, Stephen Irby of Batesville and Myron Elton Irby of Milwaukee, Wis.; one brother, John Henry “Cat” Irby of Memphis; 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

HAMILTON, Ala.— Charles Dwayne Seamster, 42, formerly of Batesville, store manager for Wal-Mart, died Tuesday,  December 8, 2009 at University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital.

Services were Friday at Waller Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Randy Hope officiating. Burial was in Owen’s Cemetery. Waller Funeral Home had charge.

 Seamster, born in Witchita, Kansas, was a member  of Plantersville Baptist Church and was a graduate of Ole Miss, where he was a  member of the bowling team.  He was a fan of wrestling, football and  Nascar.  

 Survivors include: his wife, Shannon  Vaughn Seamster of Hamilton, Ala.; one daughter, Kayla Alexandria Seamster of  Hamilton, Ala.; one son, Charles Vaughn Seamster of Hamilton, Ala.; his father,  Charlie Seamster and his wife, Pat of Plantersville; his mother, Linda  Blackmon and her husband, Larry of Plantersville; one sister, Kim Duffy of  Gautier;  two brothers, Scott Seamster of Saraland, Ala. and Michael  Blackmon of Ft. Worth, Texas and his step-mother, Kathy Gober Harris of Brooklyn,  NY.

The family asks memorial contributions in Mr. Seamster’s memory be made to Kidney Cancer Research, P.O. Box  3516, Oak Brook, Ill. 60522-3516.

SARDIS— Martha Jean Ward Wait, 52, died Monday, December 14, 2009, at Home Health Care.

Services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Braham Chapel C.M.E. Church. Burial will be in Miles Chapel Cemetery. Felix Cauthen Funeral Home has charge.

Wait, was a member of Harmonia M.B. Church in Sardis.

Survivors include her husband, Michael Henderson of Sardis; one son, Michael Clayborn Henderson of Sardis; four sisters, Elizabeth Sanders and Cordelia Ward, both of Sardis, Mattie Wootson of Brandon and Morise Wright of Memphis; four brothers, James Ward and Isaac Ward, both of Milwaukee, Clyde Ward of Kansas City, Kan. and Ricky Ward of Pearl and one grandchild.

COURTLAND— Andrew Freeman Walls, 66, died Friday, December 11, 2009, at his residence.

Services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary Chapel. Rev. Joe Blackburn will officiate. Burial will be in West Camp Cemetery. Visitation will be today from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Cooley’s Mortuary. Cooley’s Mortuary has charge.

Walls, born Sept. 19, 1943, to the late Freeman Walls and Mattie Louise Kuykendall, was a forklift driver for Springs Industries. He was a member of West Camp M.B. Church where he was a deacon and on the homecoming committee.

Survivors include: his wife, Mary Walls of Courtland; four daughters, LaQuisha Walls of Pope, Angela Johnson of Batesville, Teresa Flowers Mitchell of Fairbanks, Alaska, Monique Brassell of Detroit, Mich.; one son, Andrew L. Walls of Warner Robins, Ga.; five sisters, Bertha Ware, Lydia Booker, both of Batesville, Bee Willie Brooks of Detroit, Mich., Bettye Lee of Denton, Texas and Queen Ester Jackson of Newburg, N.Y.; one brother, Paul Walls of Oakland, Calif.; 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.