Obituaries 3-30-12
Published 12:00 am Friday, March 30, 2012
Terry McDonald
Former Oxford Fire Chief Terry McDonald died early Friday at Baptist Memorial Hospital East in Memphis. He was the husband of The Panolian Advertising Director Frieda McDonald.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Coleman Funeral Home in Oxford.
McDonald died after experiencing medical complications during a brief illness.
McDonald came to the Oxford Fire Department as chief in 1977 from the Canton Fire Department. He served as Oxford Fire Chief until 1998. He is a past president of the Mississippi Fire Chiefs’ Association.
He also served as Code Compliance Director for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians including the Silver Star Resort and Casino and Golden Moon Casino.
He was a member of the National Fire Protection Association’s Code Development Committee and the International Association of Arson Investigators.
Survivors, in addition to his wife, include his son, Terry McDonald Jr. and his wife, Kim, of DeSoto County, and two grandchildren.
Frances A. Benson
POPE – Frances A. Benson, 94, died Friday, March 23, 2012, at her residence.
Services will be 1 p.m. Saturday, March 30, 2012, at Batesville Junior High School Auditorium. Rev. Willie L. Armstead will officiate.
Burial will be in Shiloh Cemetery in Courtland. Kenneth I. Roberson Funeral Home of Sardis is in charge of the arrangements.
She was a native of Panola County and a member of Springhill Asa M.B. Church. . She was preceded in death by her husband, Luster Benson Sr.
Survivors include: three daughters, Mary Alice Ladd, Rosie Mae Diggs and Gracie Liee Miles all of Pope; seven sons, Allen Whitten of Chicago, Luster Benson Jr., Willie L. Benson, L. B. Benson and Joe Nathan Benson all of Pope, Willie B. Benson of Courtland, and Jimmy Lee Benson of Sardis; 150 grandchildren, 222 great grandchildren and a host of great-great grandchildren.
SARDIS – Luther Allen “Luke” Frederickson Jr., 75, died Thursday, March 22, 2012, at Baptist Memorial Hospital – North Mississippi.
Services were held Saturday, March 24 at The First Baptist Church in Sardis. Burial was in Hebron Cemetery. Ray-Nowell Funeral Home had charge.
Fredrickson, born June 12, 1936, in Oxford, to the late Luther Allen Fredrickson Sr. and Mary Julia McCormick Fredrickson, was a member of the First Baptist Church in Sardis where he served as a deacon and taught the men’s Sunday school class for 50 years. He was also a farmer. He was also a crop insurance adjuster.
Survivors include: three daughters, Elizabeth M. Fredrickson of Cordova, Lydia Anne Fredrickson Sharpe of Lakeland, Tenn. and Mary Julia Fredrickson Moore of Sardis; two sisters, Grace West Jennings of Sardis and Nancy Masterson of Memphis and five grandchildren.
Memorials maybe made to First Baptist Church in Sardis and Gideons North Panola Chapter.
