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 By  Staff Reports Published 
11:09 am Saturday, July 20, 2002

ALMA MCINTOSH

By Staff
Homemaker
DEKALB Services for Alma McIntosh will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at St. Mark United Methodist Church in DeKalb with Pastor John H. Rouse officiating. Burial will be in Depot Hill Cemetery in DeKalb with E.E. McDonald Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. McIntosh, 100, of DeKalb, died Wednesday, July 17, 2002, at Mississippi Care Center of DeKalb, LLC. She was a homemaker.
Survivors include three daughters, Birdie Johnson and her husband, Gilford, of Glen Carbon, Ill., Minnie Jewel Love, of Baltimore, Md., Irene Edwards and her husband, Sylvester, of East St. Louise, Ill.; seven sons, Henry B. McIntosh and his wife, Helen, of Norfolk, Va., Johnnie C. McIntosh and Charlie and his wife Cathryn all, of East St. Louis, Virgil McIntosh and his wife, Ella, Shumpert McIntosh and his wife, Ruth, and Jimmie McIntosh and his wife Frances, all of Erie, Pa., Willie McIntosh and wife, Joyce, of DeKalb; a sister, Minnie Reyes, of Los Angeles; a number of grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren; five sisters-in-law, Mattie Mae McIntosh, of Vaiden, Cozette McIntosh of East St. Louis, Helen McIntosh, of Preston, Lillie McIntosh, of St. Louis, Ina Jean Robert and her husband, Marcellus, of East St. Louis, two brothers-in-law, Melvin McIntosh Sr. of Meridian, and Leslie McIntosh and his wife, Joyce, of Albany, N.Y.
She was preceded in death by her husband and a son.
Visitation will be held today 7 p.m.- 8 p.m. p.m. at the funeral home.
DIANNE BALL NATALE
Professional keyboard instructor
Graveside services for Dianne Ball Natale will be held Monday at 10 a.m. at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Barham Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Ms. Natale, 50, of West Palm Beach, Fla. died Monday, July 8, 2002, at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach. She was Director of Music at Bobb's Pianos and Organs in West Palm Beach, and had been a professional keyboard instructor for more than 15 years.
She was a graduate of Meridian High School, class of 1969 and Mississippi State University with a bachelor's of arts degree in music. While in high school, she was a member of the school band, Choralaires, Lamplighters, Phi Kappa little sister and the Dusty Social Club. While attending Mississippi State University, she was a member of Phi Mu Sorority, Pi Kappa Alpha little sister and a member of the University marching band and orchestra. While living in Meridian she was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
Survivors include her two children, Kimberly and Steven Natale, a sister, Deborah Ball Lau and her husband, Dr. Glenn Lau, a brother, Timothy Ball and his wife,Becky, a nephew Jeffrey Ball, and a niece, Rosey Lau.
She was preceded in death by her parents Jimmy and Jeanette Ball and a brother, Phillip Ball.
Visitation will be Monday one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
ORA T. SMITH
Retired from Office Supply Co.
Services for Ora T. Smith Will be held Sunday at 3 p.m. at Coker's Chapel United Methodist Church with the Revs. Jesse F. Long III and Edward O'Conner officiating. Burial will be in Coker's Chapel Cemetery with Barham Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Smith, 95, of Meridian, died Friday, July 19, 2002, at King's Daughters &Sons Rest Home. Mrs. Smith played basketball for Vimville High School as did all of her sisters and several cousins. In 1931, 1932 and 1933 the Vimville girls team won the state basketball championship, the only team to win the title three years in a row until Houlka duplicated the feat in the late 1970s.
Mrs. Smith then moved to Jackson to become a nurse. She remembered travels during that time back and forth to Jackson when sections of Highway 80 were unpaved and the state highway department provided the services of a team of oxen for travelers stuck in the mud flats at Hickory.
In the 1940s, Mrs. Smith began her career with the Office Supply Company a division of Mississippi School Supply serving as a sales manager in Jackson, Greenwood and Gulfport before retiring in 1970 from the Meridian store.
Mrs. Smith's return to Meridian with OSCO ultimately enabled her to build a home for retirement on part of the old Thompson home place near Vimville established by Alfred Augustus and Rachel Thompson.
An avid traveler, in the 1930s, Mrs. Smith and several brothers and sisters traveled to the White River to fish, then ventured on into the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri. In the late 1960s, she traveled with a niece and nephew to see the rose gardens of Oregon. There, she and her niece sampled the wonderful produce of the Pacific Northwest, especially tart pie cherries.
As she passed the age of 90, Mrs. Smith limited her travels to the roads and highways of southeast Lauderdale County where her 1977 silver gray Chevrolet Nova V-8 was a familiar daily sight.
We all shall miss her gentle thoughtfulness and many kindnesses. She was a dear soul.
Survivors include a sister, Doris Thompson Wacaster of Meridian; five nieces and nephews, Linda Wacaster Hannah of Covington, Ga.; Joyce Thompson Stewart of Columbus; and Betty Carol Thompson Flanagan, Gerald Wayne Thompson and Cecil Thompson "Tom" Wacaster, all of Meridian; and several grandnieces and nephews and great-grand nieces and nephews, many of who live near Vimville.
She was preceded in death by her grandfather, Alfred Augustus Thompson and her grandmother, Rachel Thompson, her father, Clayton Mills Thompson and her mother, Margaret Irby Thompson, all of Vimville; and seven brothers and sisters, Lester Thompson of Lexington; Cecil Thompson, Bob Thompson, Kathleen Thompson Irby, Brown Thompson and Woodie Thompson, all of Vimville; and Bill Thompson of Meridian.
Pallbearers will be Jeffrey Hannah, Randy Thompson, Gerald Wayne Thompson, Chris Thompson, John Flanagan, Warren Stewart and Tommy Wacaster.
Visitation will be Sunday from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. at the church.
WILLIE B. WALKER
Arrangements were incomplete at Clark's Memorial Funeral Home for Wilie B. Walker, 72, of Meridian, who died Thursday, July 18, 2002, at Rush Specialty Hospital.
LARKIN TY'KEEM FAISON
Arrangements were incomplete at Clark's Memorial Funeral Home for Larkin "Javeon" Ty'Keem Faison, seven months, who died Wednesday, July 17, 2002, at University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.
BARBARA BRIDGES
Arrangements were incomplete at Barham Funeral Home for Barbara Bridges, 32, of Meridian, who died Friday, July 19, 2002, at Riley Hospital.

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