Obituaries for Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2003

By Staff
John Pennington Walton
Retired brakeman Frisco Railroad
YORK, Ala. Services for John Pennington Walton will be held today at 2 p.m. at Bumpers Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will be in Coker Chapel Cemetery in Ward, Ala.
Mr. Walton, 72, of Reform, Ala., died Monday, Jan. 13, 2003, at Salem Nursing Home.
Visitation will be today one hour prior to the service.
Vernice Clark
Retired store clerk
MACON Services for Vernice Clark will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at Concord Baptist Church in Macon with the Rev. Jerry Zgarba officiating. Burial will be in Salem Cemetery in Macon. Cockrell Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Clark, 88, of Columbus, formerly of Macon, died Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003, at Trinity Place Retirement Village.
Survivors include her husband, Nick Clark, and sons, Nick Clark and Tommie Earl Clark, all of Columbus; a sister, Christine Miller of Atala, Ala.; five grandsons and three great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to Concord Baptist Church or Chapel in the Pines at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba.
Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church.
James V. Murphy
Services for James V. Murphy will be held Thursday at 1 p.m. at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church with the Revs. Jim Rickles, Leon Ross and Danny Balint officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Barham Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Murphy, 74, of Meridian, died Monday, Jan. 13, 2003, at the V.A. Medical Center in Jackson. He was a member and deacon of Mt. Gilead Baptist Church, and a past Sunday school director and teacher. He was the discipleship training director and R.A. leader. He served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War.
Survivors include his wife, Annie Lou Murphy; a son, Jerry L. Murphy and his wife, Shirley, daughters, Carrie Ross and her husband, Leon, Geraldene Knight and her husband, Craig, all of Meridian, and Carol Miles and her husband, Chad, of Philadelphia; grandchildren, Andy Murphy, Josh Murphy, Norman Leon Ross, Jason Ross, Elizabeth Knight, Daniel Knight, Zach Jones and Caroline Jones; sisters, Magdalene Wilborn of York, Ala., and Dorothy Gilliland of Tuscaloosa; brothers, Jimmy Murphy and Jack Murphy, both of Tuscaloosa.
He was preceded in death by his parents, G.V. and Carrie Murphy; and a brother, George F. Murphy.
Pallbearers will be Glenn Boyette, Craig Crouch, Russell Crouch, Pap Culpepper, Charles Harper, Randy Harper, Lamar Ross and Scott Ross.
Honorary pallbearers will be his grandsons, and Davis Burkhalter, Craig Knight and Chad Miles.
Visitation will be today 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home
Alice Jane Rigdon
Homemaker
Memorial services for Alice Jane Rigdon will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. John's United Methodist Church with the Rev. Bob Kurtz officiating. Moss Service Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Rigdon, 70, of Cullman, Ala., died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003, in her home.
Survivors include her husband, Robert C. "Bob" Rigdon; a daughter, Linda Jane Isbell and her husband, Mike; a son, Robert Covert Rigdon and his wife, Loretta; and four grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a brother, James Carson Covert III.
Bill T. Lard
Retired
Services for Bill T. Lard will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Oak Grove Baptist Church in York, Ala., with the Rev. P.S. Jenkins officiating. Burial will be in Smith Chapel Cemetery in York. Clark's Memorial Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Lard, 63, of Lauderdale, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003, at Rush Foundation Hospital.
Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Elvira Lard of Lauderdale; 11 sons, Terry, Edward and Rodney Lard, all of Jackson, Tyrone Lard and Willie Sillman of Lauderdale, Bruce Parker and Doug Scott of Huntsville, Ala., Willie Hobson of Pascagoula, Michael Naylor of York, Ronald Hubbard of Detroit and Charles Jackson of the U.S. Navy; six daughters, Tanesha Lard and Joyce Harrison, both of Lauderdale, Jennifer Love of Meridian, Pamela Sturdivant and her husband, Jessie, of York, Kimberly Scott of Huntsville, Ala., and Lucinda Alford of New Castle, Ind.; three sisters, Marie Johnson of Lauderdale, Matilda Smith and her husband, Robert, of Detroit and Gladys Brown of Bessemer, Ala.; two brothers, Willie Lard of Lauderdale and Roosevelt Lard of Columbus, Ohio; 31 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be Friday 6 p.m.-7 p.m. at the funeral home and one hour prior to the service at the church.
Anne M. Sheppard
Journeyman
JACKSON Memorial services for Anne M. Sheppard will be held Saturday at the Kingdom Hall in Newton. Mark Seepe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Sheppard, 59, of Newton, died Monday, Jan. 13, 2003, at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center.
Iris J. Tucker
Arrangements were incomplete at Clark's Memorial Funeral Home for Iris J. Tucker, 79, of Meridian, died Monday, Jan. 13, 2003, at Rush Foundation Hospital.
Myra Carpenter
Arrangements were incomplete at James F. Webb Funeral Home of Newton for Myra Carpenter, 82, of Newton, who died Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003, at Alliance Health Care Center in Meridian.
Eliza Brassfield
Arrangements were incomplete at Berry and Gardner Funeral Home for Eliza Brassfield, 84, of Eutaw, Ala., who died Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003, in Eutaw.