OBITUARIES 8/4/2015
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Robert Earl Howe
GRENADA – Robert Earl “Bobby” Howe Sr., 67, died Friday, July 31, 2015 at his residence.
Funeral services were Monday at Friendship Baptist Church in Grenada with Dr. Bob Self and Dr. Brian Robertson officiating. Interment was in the Batesville-Magnolia Cemetery in Batesville.
He was born September 13, 1947 in Grenada to Mildred Noe Howe of Oakland and the late Ethel Birt “E. B.” Howe Jr. He was a member of Friendship Baptist Church and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was a retired shipping supervisor with Bowater in Grenada and an avid hunter and fisherman.
He was a former Grenada Youth League baseball coach and a devoted Ole Miss Rebel fan.
Survivors include his wife, Christine Scoggins Howe; two daughters, Christy Howe Vance of New Albany and Michelle Howe Downs of Grenada; one son, Robert Earl Howe Jr. of Leland; seven grandchildren; three sisters, Patricia Harbin and Linda Thompson, both of Batesville and Joyce Moore of Crowder; two brothers, Clifton Dale ”Butch” Howe of Coffeeville and Ethel Birt ”Bubba” Howe of Tillatoba.
Memorials may be directed to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
James Thomas Ervin
BOYLE–Former South Panola band director James Thomas Ervin died Sunday, July 26, 2015, at his home.
Ervin was a high school band director for 18 years, including the school years 1965-’66 through 1971-’72 at South Panola. He was an accomplished musician on many instruments but favored the clarinet and alto saxophone and played in Delta State Wind Ensemble for many years.
Ervin also cultivated an early love for flight into a 40-year career as an ag pilot.
Born in 1933 in Clarksdale, he was the son of the late Charles Thomas Ervin and Gladys Amanda Satchfield Ervin. He was a graduate of Cleveland High School and Delta State University. He served in the Army National Guard from 1951 to 1956.
Services were July 29. Ray Funeral Home of Cleveland was in charge of arrangements. Interment was in the North Cleveland Cemetery. Tommy Brooks of Batesville was among pallbearers.
Ervin was a charter member of Covenant Presbyterian Church. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Elsie Lynn Holder Hester Ervin of Boyle; his son, James Thomas Ervin of Germantown; and one grandson.
Azria “Bobby” Lewers
SARDIS–Azria “Bobby” Lewers, 70, died Wednesday, July 29, 2015, at his residence. He was the former Mayor of Como.
Services were held Sunday at Cistern Hill M. B. Church in Como. Burial was in the church cemetery. Felix Cauthen Funeral Home had charge.
Lewers served two terms as alderman in Como before becoming the first African American to be elected to the mayor’s post. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marine service during the Vietnam War. He was a deacon at Cistern Hill Baptist Church, a 32nd Degree Master Mason and a Shriner.
Survivors include: his wife, Ester Lewers of Como; two sons, Derrick Lewers of Nashville, Tenn. and Cornelius Black of Como; two sisters, Jeanie Lewers of Como and Ilene Hunt of Memphis and four grandchildren.
