MEMPHIS – Rodney Lydell Allen, 45, died Sunday, June 17, 2012.

Services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Calvary Longview United Methodist Church. Burial will be in Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Como. Visitation will be held  today from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Rodgers Funeral Home.

Allen was a forklift operator.

Survivors include: his wife, Maxine Drane Allen; his mother, Edna Marshall of Como; grandmother, Ardelia Whiting of Como; one daughter, Constance Allen of Cordova; two sons, Rodney Allen Jr. and Corey Richmond, both of Memphis; two sisters, Vicky Porter of Como and Temisha Marshall of Sardis; two brothers, Derrick Faulkner and Enrico Marshall, both of Memphis and two grandchildren.

BATESVILLE – Sadie Edna Atkinson, 94, died Tuesday, June 19, 2012, at Quitman County Hospital.
Services will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Crowder Baptist Church. Rev. Larry Kilgore and Rev. Eric Payne will officiate. Burial will be in Crowder Cemetery. Visitation will be held Friday from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Wells Funeral Home.

Atkinson, born Jan. 28, 1918, in Abbeville, to Alvin Clark and Gertrude Brock Cobb, was a homemaker and a member of Crowder Baptist Church.

She was preceded in death by her husband, W.W. “Pat” Atkinson.

Her survivors include five daughters, Brenda Atkinson Wiggs of Marks, Betty Atkinson Flesher of Littleton, Colo., Edna Sue Atkinson Watson of Waterford, Frances Merle Atkinson Saunders of Denver, Martha Atkinson Cannon of Batesville; three sons, A.C. Atkinson of Batesville, Van Atkinson of Birmingham, Ala., and William Walter “Billy” Atkinson Jr. of Batesville; 26 grandchildren; 33 great grandchildren and seven great-great grandchildren.

Memorials may be sent to Crowder Baptist Church, P.O. Box 156, Crowder, MS 38622.

COLUMBUS – William Clay “Bill” Walker, 81, formerly of Courtland, died Monday, June 18, 2012, at his residence.

Services were held Wednesday at Mt. Vernon Church in Columbus. Clark Richardson officiated with James Black assisting. Burial was in Mt. Vernon Cemetery. Lowndes Funeral Home had charge.

Walker, born Feb. 23, 1931, to the late Melbourne Drew and Ruth Roache Walker, in Courtland, was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and the Mississippi National Guard. He was a member of the official board of United Methodist Church in Batesville and United Methodist Church in Hamilton, Ala. He married Sallie Boyles in 1956 in Batesville and moved to Columbus in 1970 where he was employed with Tennessee Gas Pipeline as District Superintendant for 40 years. He was a member of Mt. Vernon Church where he was a host family for Disciple Now and helped build churches throughout Louisiana and Mississippi as a Brotherhood Mission Worker.

He was an layman in the Methodist Church, charter member of New Hope Service Club, a Master Mason in Lodge 66 in Batesville and a past master.

Survivors include: his wife of 56 years, Sallie Walker of Columbus; daughters, Sylvia Walker Colvin, Carol Walker Mullins, both of Columbus; one brother, Merritt Hunt Walker of Courtland; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren