THOMAS WINTHORP DRAPER SR.

Services for Thomas Winthorp “T.W.” Draper Sr. will be at noon Saturday at Belmont M.B. Church in Utica with the Rev. Phillips Burks officiating. Burial will follow at the church cemetery.

Visitation will be from 6 until 7 p.m. Friday at W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home.

Mr. Draper died Saturday, Sept. 23, 2000, at ParkView Regional Medical Center. He was 72.

Mr. Draper was a retired truck driver for Sears. He was a member of Belmont M.B. Church in Utica.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Willie Draper Sr. and Alberta Williams Draper, and two brothers, Willie Draper Jr. and Jessie Draper.

Survivors include his wife, Bertha Middleton Draper of Vicksburg; two daughters, Gwendolyn D. Yates of Vicksburg and Nila D. Granberry of El Paso, Texas; three sons, Thomas W. Draper Jr. of Vicksburg, Christopher Draper of Utica and Cornell Ellis of Compton, Calif.; three stepsons, Eddie C. Hunt, James Hunt and Roosevelt Hunt, all of Utica; one brother, Sidney Draper of Chicago; four sisters, Minnie Lindsey, Mary Bell Ester, Betty Jackson and Lillie Holmes, all of Vicksburg; 17 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; nieces; nephews; and other relatives including Elizabeth Middleton of Utica.

RUFUS WASHINGTON

JACKSON, Ala. Rufus Washington died Saturday, Sept. 23, 2000, in Jackson, Ala. He was 58.

A native of Vicksburg, Mr. Washington was a former employee of Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant.

He was preceded in death by three sisters, Rosie Lee Turner, Idella Gee and Sophia Wallace; and two brothers, George Washington and William Washington Jr.

He is survived by his wife, Gayda Gates of Jackson; four daughters, Catherine Washington and Quantina Washington, both of Jackson, and Beaulisa Washington Miller and Cassandra L. Washington, both of Chicago; one son, Timothy Washington of Compton, Calif.; three sisters, Williona James and Katie Mae Neal, both of Vicksburg, and Viola Neal of Utica; four grandchildren; nieces, nephews and other families including the Franklin and Goodman families of Vicksburg.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at New Hope Baptist Church in Bovina with the Rev. Elzie O’Neal officiating. Burial will follow at New Hope Church Cemetery under the direction of Jackson Memorial Funeral Home in Jackson, Ala.

Pallbearers will be Bennie Wilson, Robert Miller, Derrick Christmas, Donald Reed Jr., Leroy Christmas and David Reed Jr.