North Mississippi Herald - Obituaries April 2006

HENDERSON, TN: Funeral services for Sara Christine Price Luttrell, age 92, were held at Seven Oaks Funeral Home in Water Valley April 10, 2006, at 2:30 p.m.
Mrs. Luttrell was born December 16, 1913, in Coffeeville and passed from this life on Friday, April 7, 2006, in Henderson, Tennessee.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Alvin T. Price, and in later years by husband, Lloyd Luttrell.
Survivors include: one son, Al Price, and his wife, Josephine, of Henderson; two grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. She also leaves: step-daughers, Margaret Perkins of Olive Branch and Judy Cofer and husband, Bobby, of Springfield, Tennessee; and three sisters, Stella Ruth Tribble of Luxohoma, Janie Florence Armstrong of Enid, and Jo Anne Mooney of Water Valley.
Mrs. Luttrell was the oldest of eight children of Eldon Phillip and Ethel Langham Helm in a family that knew happiness in the simple things of life, and anxiety for brothers who left their work in the clay hills of Mississippi to fight for America’s freedoms across the sea. She public worked most of her life in Water Valley. Her family stands up to praise her for her generosity and for quilting for each the beautiful, hand sewn “Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors”. Her epitaph is that “she hath done what she could.”
For the past eight years she lived in Henderson and was a member of the Diamond Grove Church of Christ in Beech Bluff.

WATER VALLEY: Mike Sennett Jenkins, 74, passed away Friday, April 7, 2006, in Baptist Memorial Hospital—North Mississippi at Oxford.
The son of James Percy Jenkins and Monica Marguerite Williamson Jenkins, he was born in Belzoni. Mr. Jenkins was retired from BorgWarner Automotive in Water Valley. He served his country in the U.S. Army and was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 4100. He was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Wahabi Shrine A.A.O.N.M.S. and Scottish Rite of Freemasonry 32 degree Mason. In the Masonic service he was: Past Master, Valley City Logde #402, Free & Accepted Masons; Past High Priest, McConico Chapter #96; Past Master, J. J. Melton Council #50; Past Commander, St. Cry Commandry #6; and Past Patron, Water Valley Chapter #5, Order of Eastern Star.
Funeral services for Mr. Jenkins were held Monday, April 10, 2006, at eleven o’clock in the morning, in the Henry Chapel of Seven Oaks Funeral Home, with Rev. Ronald Jenkins and Rev. Hank Anderson officiating. Interment followed in Oak Hill Cemetery, with Mike Sigler, Rob Sigler, Shane Walker, Dr. Lee Pullen, Randy Taylor, and Henry Coats serving as pallbearers.
Survivors include: his wife, Emmie Faye Jenkins of Water Valley; two sons, James M. “Mickey” (Linda) Jenkins of Tupelo and Richard S. “Ricky” (Deana) Jenkins of Water Valley; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; five brothers, Joe Lee Silas Sigler and Lee Andrew Sigler, both of Water Valley; Robert N. Sigler and Sammy Sigler, both of Gulfport, and Pete Sigler of Bakersfield, California; and sisters, Betty Lane Ross of Water Valley, Kandas Norton of Gulfport, Virginia Whitten of Sumrall, Mary Lee Fraize of Rena Lara, and Ella Mae Romantino of Denham Springs, Louisiana.

WATER VALLEY: Edward “Buster” Moore, age 72, died at his home April 6, 2006. He was retired from the Forestry Department and was an Army Veteran, who served two terms in Vietnam. Mr. Moore was a member of Bethel Baptist Church and a member of the VFW.
Funeral services were held in the Henry Chapel of Seven Oaks Funeral Home at one o’clock in the afternoon, Saturday, April 8, 2006. Burial was in the Camp Ground Cemetery, near Water Valley.
Mr. Moore is survived by: two daughters, Lillian Vicknair of Water Valley and Sandra Griffin of Coldwater; three sisters, Junita Austin of Crowder, Shirley Moore of Oxford, and Judy Moore of Columbus; one brother, Joe Moore of Byhalia; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Preceding Mr. Moore in death were: his parents, Edward Moore and Lillian Turner Moore; and three brothers, Leland, Richard, and Jimmy Moore.

OXFORD: Irma Mae Tutor Mogridge, 85, died Sunday, April 2, 2006, in Baptist Memorial Hospital—North Mississippi at Oxford. A private gradeside service will be held by the family at a later date. Coleman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
A former beautician in Memphis, Mrs. Mogridge spent most of her life as a homemaker. She was a resident of Oxford for more than 30 years. She enjoyed gardening, and was a Baptist.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James August Mogridge.
Survivors include: a daughter, Paula Kay Monsarrate of Germantown, Tennessee; a son, James Donald Mogridge of Thaxton; a brother, Richard Marlin Tutor of Arkansas; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

  WATER VALLEY: William Edward Applewhite, infant son of Melissa Ann Pierce Applewhite and Kenneth William Applewhite, Jr. of Water Valley died Friday, April 7, 2006, at Oxford in Baptist Memorial Hospital—North Mississipi.
  Graveside services were held at two o’clock in the afternoon Monday, April 10, 2006, in the Shiloh Cemetery, near Oxford, with Rev. Derek Starnes officiating. Waller Fuenral Home of Oxford had charge of arrangements.
  Survivors include: his parents, Melissa Ann Pierce Applewhite and Kenneth William Applewhite, Jr. of Water Valley; paternal grandparents, Kenneth William Applewhite of Batesville and Ben and Ann McPhail of Water Valley; maternal grandmother, Wilma Pierce Saxton of Oxford; great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Troy McCoy of Oxford, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Applewhite of Batesville, Roy and Jill Mothershed of Batesville, and Eddie Morrison of Belden.

  DAVENPORT, IOWA: A. B. Johnson, 71, of Davenport, Iowa died Friday, April 14, 2006, at Trinity Medical Center, Rock Island, Illinois.
  Visitation will be at 10:00 a.m. Friday, April 21, 2006, at Third Missionary Baptist Church, Davenport, with services following.
  He is the brother of Levonia Hoskins of Water Valley and Lillie Mae Roberts of Coffeeville.

  WATER VALLEY: Mrs. Claudia Burns Rowsey, age 90, of Coffeeville passed away April 15, 2006, in Yalobusha General Hospital. Until retirement she and her late husband, Bobby Gene Rowsey, owned and operated Rowsey Grocery in Coffeeville for years. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Coffeeville.
Funeral services for Mrs. Rowsey were held in the Henry Chapel of Seven Oaks Funeral Home in Water Valley at ten o’clock in the morning Monday, April 17, 2006. Rev. Truman Scarborough and Rev. Bryan Bailey conducted the service. Serving as pallbearers were O. C. Burns, Robert Philley, Larry Schmiz, Todd Hodges, Bill Rowsey, and Walt Rowsey. Honorary pallbearers was Bobby Philley.
  Mrs. Rowsey leaves: three sons, William Eugene Rowsey, Sr. of Coffeeville, John Harley Rowsey of Houschton, Georgia; and Kenneth Edwin Rowsey of Grenada; seven grandchildrne; and four great-grandchildren.
  Preceding her in death were: her husband, Bobby Gene Rowsey (October 29, 2000); a daughter, Sandra Kay Rowsey Philley; her parents, William Edgar Burns and Mary Tyler Burns; and four brothers, Harwell Burns, O. C. Burns, Sr., Bedford Burns, and Josie Burns.

  MEMPHIS, TN:  Paulette G. Smith, 59, of Memphis, formerly of Paris, died Sunday, April 16, 2006, in Methodist Hospital in Memphis.
  Funeral services for Mrs. Smith will be held at one o’clock in the afternoon Wednesday, April 19, 2006, in the Chapel at Latham Funeral Home in Water Valley, with Bro. Garry Martin and Bro. Larry Wicker officaiting. Burial will be in the Paris Memorial Cemetery.
  She was married for 12 years to Tommy Smith. Mrs. Smith was preceded in death by her birth mother, Gracie Evelyn Webb.
  Survivors include: her husband, Tommy Smith of Memphis; two daughters, Karen Goodheart of Pelahatchie and Donna Greenlee of Yazoo City; three sons, David Greenlee of New Albany, Terry Greenlee of Denver, Colorado, and J immy Greenlee of Yazoo City; three sisters, Jerry Webb Cotton of Clarksdale, Ginger L. Dykes of Oxford, and Linda L. Potts of Paris; parents, Kenneth and Pencie Latham of Paris; and 14 grandchildren.

  VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: Retired U.S. Navy Capt. William E. “Bill” Fly, 89, of Thoroughgood, Virginia, passed away March 23, 2006, in Sentara Bayside Hospital.
  A native of Water Valley, he was a son of the late William G. and Anne S. Kuykendall Fly, both of whom are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
  He retired from the United States Navy as a carrier pilot after 30 years of service. He had tours of duty as Air Group Commander (CAG4) and at CAR Div Two, First Fleet Staff, National War College, USS Essex CO and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also taught school at the Naval Academy, the Naval War College and Tidewater Community College. He was a member of the Little Creek Amphibious Base Chapel and St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church. He belonged to the Naval Academy Alumni Association. He was an avid hunter and golfer and enjoyed the outdoors.
Surviving are: his wife, Isabel M. Fly of Virginia Beach; a daughter, Sandra Weiermann and her husband, Donald, of California; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by a son, William Greg Fly.
  A Mass of Resurrection was held at Little Creek Amphibious Base Chapel, burial following with military honors, at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens.
  Memorials in lieu of flowers may be made to St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.hollomon-brown.com.
  (The following was supplied by Subscriber David Fly of Senatobia and gives more information on Capt. Fly. David also shared that the Capt. was a second cousin of Mrs. Arnold W. (Mary Elizabeth Brown) Carothers of Water Valley.)
Post Script: With A Name
Like Fly, Navy Pilot
Seemed Destined To Soar
  He had everything to be a great pilot, calm nerves, a sharp mind, keen eyesight. And Bill Fly had the perfect name.
  The likelihood of flying didn’t seem very great as a youngster growing up in tiny Water Valley. After a year of college at Ole Miss, though, Fly headed off to the Naval Academy with the dream of going to flight school.
  “He was top-knotch,” said John “Tiger One’ Lacouture, a fellow 1940 gradaute and a longtime friend.
  Fly, who boxed and swam at the academy, met his wife while at flight school in Louisiana. Fly and Isabel were married for 62 years and had two children.
  He flew the famed “Hellcats” on combat missions in the South Pacific during World War II and was later commanding offier of the Wasp and chief of staff of the 1st Fleet. He was known as a guy you could count on and for his love of hot coffee. It couldn’t be hot enough.
  A keen student of politics and history, he earned a master’s degree from American University in Washington and went on to teach at the Naval Academy, the War College, and at Tidewater Community College after retiring as a captain in 1970.
  “He was born a teacher, and he loved talking politics,” said his daughter, Sandra, Weiemann. Fly was known as a down-to-earth guy, and friends described him as laid-back, easygoing and gentle. He loved feeding birds. When the word got out in the mallard community that the Fly residence was the place to go, their yard was overrun with them.
  He also enjoyed the endless jokes and references to his name and career. “His initials were W.E.,” said retired Rear Adm. Pat Clancy, another former classmate, “So we called him “We Fly”. Isabel was known as “I Fly”.
  Fly loved both hunting and talking about it, often launching into humorous tales of his hunting escapades with his dry sense of humor. “Those stories would go on and on,” his daughter said.
  In his retirement years, he and Isabel loved spending time at “The Farm”, their country cottage, where Fly loved taking long hikes in the woods with his English setter. “He probably would have rather been outside than inside,” his daughter said. Fly, who battled a variety of illnesses in his last years, died March 23,2006, at age 89.

  MEMPHIS: Betty Stokes Woodall, 71, of Memphis died April 2, 2006. at her home.
  A 1953 graduate of Water Valley High School, Mrs. Woodall was a retired secretary. Her father, the late Rev. Stokes, was a Methodist Minister.
Funeral services for Mrs. Woodall were held at eleven o’clock in the morning Tuesday, April 4, 2006, at Memphis Funeral Home Germantown Parkway Chapel. Burial was in Memory Hill Gardens.
  Mrs. Woodall was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard I. “Woody” Woodall, and a daughter, Stacey Ward Sullivan.
  She leaves: her mother, Mrs. Ruth Stokes of Madison, Alabama; a sister, Barbara West of Madison, Alabama; and a grandson, Tyler Ward of Germantown, Tennessee.
  Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.

  WATER VALLEY: Clifford Marion Baggett, age 86, of Water Valley passed away on April 20, 2006, in Yalobusha County Nursing Home. A member of Mt. Liberty Church, he was a retired trucker for Handy Man Trucking and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
  Funeral services were held in the Henry Chapel of Seven Oaks Funeral Home at two o’clock in the afternoon Sunday, April 23, 2006, with Rev. Forest Poindexter officiating. Interment followed in Mt. Liberty Cemetery Pallbearers were Richard Gurner, Eric Johnson, James Wells, Jr., Kris Johnson, Jesse Rodriquez and Brian Casey.
  Survivors include: his wife, Audrey (Jean) Baggett of Water Valley; a daughter, Barbara Close of Lone Jack, Missouri; and step-daughters, Deborah Johnson of Chicago Heights, Illinois, and Kathryn Wells of Oxford; a sister, Francis Conners of Crete, Illinois; a foster sister, Violet Parks of Homewood, Illinois eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
  He was preceded in death by his parents, Finnely Marion Baggett and Lida Mae Smith Baggett, and his foster motehr, Victoria Persiani.

  DAVENPORT, IOWA: A. B. Johnson was born in Oakland April 21, 1934, a son of the late Turner and Daisy Leigh Johnson. As a young boy, he attended Lick Branch Middle School in Oakland.
He professed a hope in Christ at an early age and was baptized at Spring Hill North Missionary Baptist Church, under the leadership of the late Reverend C. L. King of Oakland. Mr. Johnson departed this life to eternal rest on Friday, April 14, 2006, at Trinity Medical Center West Campus, Rock Island, Illinois.
  Mr. Johnson was united in Holy Matrimony to Rosie Morrow on September 30, 1974, in Davenport, Iowa. He retired from Caterpillar Tractor Company on May 6, 1988, never having missed a scheduled work day.
  Survivors include: his loving wife, Rosie Johnson of Davenport, Iowa; daughters, Betty Givens of Davenport, Erma (Walter) Rowsey of Water Valley, and Mary and Debra Love of Merrillville, Indiana; sons, Richard Johnson, Jr., Edward Johnson, and John Christian Johnson, all of Davenport; 19 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; sisters, Lillie Mae Roberts of Coffeeville, Ms. Levonia (Roland) Hoskins of Water Valley, Irene Johnson and Annie Whitley, both of Davenport; one brother, Willie C. (Mary) Johnson of Rock Island, Illinois; one uncle, Warren Wilks of Oakland; and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives, and friend.
  Preceeding him in death were his parents, Dan and Mattie Johnson, a daughter, Elaine Johnson, a son, Von Edward Love, and a sister, Asilene Moody.