WILLIE ESTELL ATKINSON

BOLTON Willie Estell Atkinson died Monday, April 23, 2001, as the result of an automobile accident. She was 55.

Ms. Atkinson was a native of Bolton.

She is survived by three sons, Antonio Marshall, Lee Arthur Marshall and Rochester Atkinson Jr., all of Bolton; three daughters, Rochella Atkinson and Barbara A. Bishop, both of Bolton, and Williesteen Hill of Madison; two brothers, Jimmie Dell Marshall of Jackson and Robert E. Marshall of Bolton; five sisters, Lula M. Anderson of Detroit and Louise Robinson, Mary Harrell, Earma J. Marshall and Belinda Palmer, all of Bolton; nine grandchildren, one great-grandchild and other relatives, including Clyde Thomas of Bolton.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Hill of Zion M.B. Church in Bolton. Burial will follow at the church cemetery under the direction of Lakeover Funeral Home of Jackson.

Visitation will be from 1 until 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

WILLIE RUTH GADDIS

BOLTON Willie Ruth Gaddis died Monday, April 23, 2001, as the result of an automobile accident. She was 55.

Mrs. Gaddis was a native of Bolton.

She is survived by her husband, Cornelius Gaddis Sr. of Bolton; two sons, Cornelius Gaddis Jr. and Gregory Gaddis, both of Bolton; a daughter, Dora A. Gaddis of Bolton; her parents, Corine Tatum of Jackson and Bearleatha Nichols of Bolton; four brothers, M.C. Nichols and McClenty Nichols, both of Bolton, Gregory Tatum of Edwards and Glen Tatum of Jackson; six sisters, Agnes Murray of Edwards, Lucile Heard of Clinton, Mary L. Tatum and Bernice Tatum, both of New York, N.Y., Gloria J. Tatum of Gary, Ind., and Vera Tatum of Jackson; and six grandchildren.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ratliff Chapel M.B. Church in Edwards. Burial will follow at Brownsville, M.B. Church Cemetery in Bolton under the direction of Lakeover Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 1 until 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

GENERAL GRANT

ROLLING FORK General Grant died Sunday, April 22, 2001, at Heritage Manor Nursing Home in Rolling Fork. He was 91.

Mr. Grant is survived by two nieces, Gertrude Shorter and Emma Ford, both of Hopedale.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Mount Tabor M.B. Church in Hopedale with the Rev. Bruce Dorsey officiating. Burial will follow at Hopedale Cemetery under the direction of Walker Funeral Home of Rolling Fork.

MYRTLE WATSON HAMMACK

Myrtle Watson Hammack died Thursday, April 26, 2001, at ParkView Regional Medical Center. She was 79.

A retired seamstress, Mrs. Hammack was born in Vicksburg and lived in Natchez for a number of years before returning to Vicksburg.

She was preceded in death by a sister, Eloise Watson Dickinson; and a brother, Thomas E. Watson.

She is survived by a sister, Louise Watson Etherington and Acworth, Ga.; and 14 nieces and nephews.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Cedar Hill Cemetery with the Rev. Mitchell Hedgepeth officiating.

Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until the service Saturday at Glenwood Funeral Home.

Pallbearers will be Kenneth Dickinson, Joey Keller, Scott Paxton, Richard Gray, John Etherington and Jake Parson.

RUBY MITCHELL

Ruby C. Mitchell, the owner and operator of a popular restaurant and food takeout business, died Thursday, April 27, 2001, at Vicksburg Medical Center. She was 72.

Mrs. Mitchell owned and operated Ruby’s Hot Tamale Hut in downtown Vicksburg for many years.

Her niece and caregiver, Cathy Prater of Woodville, said she believes the restaurant was opened in the late 1960s. In the 1972 City Directory, Ruby’s was listed at 716 China St., but it was later moved to 723 Grove St., from which Mrs. Mitchell retired in the mid-1990s.

During their 30 years, the restaurant and Mrs. Mitchell’s food proved to be popular with Vicksburg residents.

“It was great home cooking,” said George Flaggs, a Warren County Youth Court counselor and member of the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Flaggs grew up in the 1200 block of Locust Street, around the corner from Mrs. Mitchell’s home on China Street.

“She was like a mother to me,” the 48-year-old Flaggs said, adding she was the first person to call a child’s parents if she saw the child doing something wrong. “She was also the first one to give you a whipping if she caught you.”

Flaggs said he frequently ate the food at Mrs. Mitchell’s restaurant.

“Some people called it soul food, but it was just good Southern cooking,” Flaggs said.

“What stood out most with me was her personal relationship with her customers,” he said. “She called everybody by their first name. She was a Southern lady.”

Businessman Fred Peyton, owner of Peyton Distributing Co., said he was Mrs. Mitchell’s customer and she, his.

He recalled the food as Flaggs did, good Southern cooking.

“Black and white ate there” and bought takeout plates from Ruby’s.

Peyton said he first knew Mrs. Mitchell when she had Ruby’s on China Street. In both locations, he saved empty, cardboard beer trays for her to use for pick-up food orders.

Mrs. Mitchell was of the Baptist faith.

She was preceded in death by her parents Percy and Cora Campbell Wade, two brothers, Richard Wynn and Walter Wynn, and two sisters, Thelma Wade Harris and Carrie Lee Wade.

In addition to her niece Cathy Prater, Mrs. Mitchell is survived by six other nieces and nephews, Reginald Harris of Vicksburg, Barbara Neil Sharpe of Chicago, Patricia Simmons of Liberty, Paxton and Melvin Harris of Fort Worth, Texas, and Douglas Harris of North Carolina.

Services were being handled by W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home.