Obituaries 12/18/12

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 18, 2012

BATESVILLE —Walter J. Bray, 93, died Friday morning, December 14, 2012 at Tri-Lakes Medical Center in Batesville.

A funeral mass was held Monday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Batesville, Father Sam Messina officiated. Burial was in Forrest Memorial Park. Wells Funeral Home had charge.

Bray, born August 12, 1919 in Caspian, Mich. to the late Frank and Sophia Retzoir Bray, grew up and attended schools in the Weare township and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in March of 1942 at the start of WWII. He served in various assignments for three years and 10 months, including fighter pilot training and was honorably discharged in December 1945. Bray went on to serve five years with the Wise Air National Guard for support and also with the Air Force Auxiliary for several years, where he held 2nd Lt., 1st Lt., and Captain Commission.

He was married on December 4, 1943 to Mamie E. Pearson of Lambert and has been married for 69 years. Bray worked for Ladish Forging Company 34 years and held various positions. He was a supervisor for approximately 16 years in estimating and pricing administration and industrial engineering. Bray retired in 1983 and moved to Pensacola for 12 years then moved to Batesville in the fall of 1999 to provide health care for his wife’s brother, Albert Pearson.

He was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus in Batesville.

Besides his wife he is survived by; three sisters, Sister Theresa Bray of Grand Rapids, Mich., Mary Bray Cory of Roseville, Mich., Barbara Bray Frulanni of Tucson; brother, William “Bill” Bray of Las Vegas.
The family requests memorials in Mr. Bray’s memory to be sent to St. Mary’s Catholic Church Building Fund, 120 Highway 35 North, Batesville, Miss. 38606.

BATESVILLE —Sarah Mae Vaughn, 67, died Saturday, December 15, 2012 at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Funeral service will be held today at 2 p.m. at Wells Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will be in Lambert
Cemetery. Reverend Charles Lipe will officiate. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday and continue until service time.

She was born September 22, 1945 to the late Genie Carlisle and Annie Wayne Holman Bowles. She was a homemaker.

Survivors include: one daughter, Donna Hill Robertson of Batesville; two sons, Malcolm Anthony Vaughn of Pope, Timothy Vaughn of Batesville; sister, Annie Ruth Parker of Sledge; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

FORT GORDON, Ga.—Sgt. Britain Arnold Wright, 30, died Monday, November 26, 2012 at Fort Gordon in Georgia. He graduated from North Delta High School in 2000.

A graveside service was held on Tuesday, December 4, at Friendship Cemetery near Como with Captain Heather Duff officiating. Waller Funeral Home had charge.

Born in Memphis, Britain served as Sergeant in the United States Army National Guard during Operation Iraqi Freedom III. He served in the United States Army as a military police officer.

Survivors include his parents, Joy and Bill Wright; his sister, Katelynn Wright Hadley and her husband, Joshua, and his grandmother, Reva P. Arnold all of Oxford.

Memorial contributions in Sgt. Wright’s memory may be made to Paws With A Cause, 4646 South Division, Wayland, Mich. 49348.