Obituaries for Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003
By Staff
Licensed funeral home director
Services for Robert "Sonny Boy" Owens Sr. will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church with the Rev. Tony Campbell officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Clark's Memorial Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Owens, 67, of Meridian, died Saturday, Dec. 20, 2003, at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center.
Known as "Sonny Boy," he was born to the late Robert Owens and Janie Seals on March 12, 1936, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He was raised by the late Sam Seals and Louise Seals.
He graduated from St. Joseph High School in Meridian on May 27, 1955. He received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army after serving three years. He received a certificate of completion in electricity from Meridian Junior College in 1972.
In 1992, he retired from the Meridian Coca-Cola Company after being employed there for 33 years. After retiring, he was able to do something he had always wanted to since he was a little boy, become a mortician.
He was employed with Clark's Memorial Funeral Home as a licensed funeral director. He was a member of the Mississippi Funeral Directors and Morticians Association and the NAACP. He was also a member of the Metropolitan Lodge No. 551 Order of the Elks, where he once served as a trustee; a member of the PRC Council No. 129. Mr. Owens enjoyed attending the Funeral Directors Conventions and Elks Conventions and the parties after.
He accepted Christ and was baptized at Saint Elizabeth Methodist Church. He later joined Pleasant Hill Baptist Church under the pastorate of the Rev. Timothy Graham.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Owens of Meridian; sons, Kenny Owens, Robert Owens Jr. and his wife, Ann, and Darrilyn Owens and his wife, Linda, all of Meridian; daughters, Marilyn Owens Dale of Meridian, Brenda Owens Callahan of Austell, Ga., Annette Owens King and her husband, Richard, of Augusta, Ga., and Jennifer Owens of Wilson, N.C.; sisters, Mamie Mauldine of Chicago and Ann Owens of Gardenia, Calif.; 19 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Janie Owens.
Pallbearers will be brothers of the Metropolitan Elks Lodge.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Mississippi Funeral Directors and Morticians, Coca-Cola employees and the staff of Clark's Memorial Funeral Home.
Visitation will be Friday 4 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home
Logging contractor
BUTLER, Ala. Graveside services for James Theodore Irby will be held today at 11 a.m. at Rest Haven Memorial Gardens Cemetery with the Rev. Franklin McLelland officiating. Bumpers Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Irby, 82, of Butler, died Monday, Dec. 22, 2003, at the V.A. Medical Center in Tuscaloosa.
Survivors include his wife, Eloise Irby of Butler; and a sister, Mary Allen Beech of Chatom.
Construction worker
Graveside services for William "Billy" Talley will be held today at 1 p.m. at Meridian Memorial Park Cemetery with the Rev. Sephus Garrett officiating. Barham Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Talley, 53, of Senatobia, died Monday, Dec. 22, 2003, in Senatobia. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam.
Survivors include his daughters, Jessica Kyzar and her husband, Johnny, and Billie Jo Goss and her husband, Lamar, all of Morton; four grandchildren; sisters, Linda Green and her husband, Lavern, and Barbara Meyer and her husband, Ron, all of Collinsville; brothers, Paul Talley and Terri Hoskins, both of Senatobia; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Maudie and Daniel Talley; siblings, Betty McFarland, Arnell Talley, Mary Bridges and Ray Talley.
Visitation will be today 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
Homemaker
PHILADELPHIA Graveside services for Barbara Jean Miller will be held today at 2 p.m. at Fellowship Cemetery. McClain-Hays Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Miller, 60, of Philadelphia, died Monday, Dec. 22, 2003, at Neshoba County General Hospital.
Survivors include her daughters, Kelly Hall of Meridian and Barbara Fields of Philadelphia; a son, Jerry Miller of Philadelphia; and 10 grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John Miller.
Visitation will be today beginning at 12:30 p.m. until service time at the funeral home.
Retired Alden Mills employee
Services for Winnie Evelyn Bryan will be held today at 2 p.m. at James F. Webb Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Dr. Malcolm Lewis officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery.
Mrs. Bryan, 99, of Meridian, died Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003, at Beverly Healthcare Center.
Survivors include her daughter, Nell Sirmon and a son, Owen Bryan Jr., both of Collinsville; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Owen Bryan; a daughter, Annie Dobbs; sisters, Vera Alexander and Minnie Sturdivant; and a brother, Hurshel Creel.
Visitation will be today one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
