HOWARD G. CHAPPELL

Howard G. Chappell died Monday, July 8, 2002, at River Region Medical Center. He was 78.

A native of Summit County, Ohio, Mr. Chappell had lived in Vicksburg since 1988. He attended the University of Akron and was a graduate of the Pensacola Naval Academy. He served in the Coast Guard as an air-sea rescue pilot during World War II. He lived for a number of years in Singapore where he was employed with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for 42 years as manager-director of Goodyear’s Orient Company, P.T.E.

He was a member of the Army-Navy Club, the American Legion and Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He was a Presbyterian.

Survivors include his wife, Norma J. Chappell of Vicksburg; his daughter, Rae J. Rufus of Edgewater, Fla.; four grandchildren; and other relatives, including Robert Rufus of Edgewater.

Riles Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.

MARY FUNCHES

Services for Mary Funches, a resident of Vicksburg, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mount Zion No. 1 M.B. Church. Burial will follow at Green Acres Memorial Park under the direction of Williams Funeral Service.

Visitation will be from 5 until 7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

Mrs. Funches died Friday, July 5, 2002, at Midway Hospital in Los Angeles.

She was a member of Mount Zion No. 1 M.B. Church in Vicksburg. She was a cook.

She was preceded in death by her husband, George Funches Sr.; her parents, Willie and Marinda Turner Willis; three daughters, Hydinia Ross, Katherine Hubbard and Verlean Funches; a son, George Funches Jr.; three sisters, Lovey Baker, Amanda Williams and Idella Jones; a brother, Ed Stimage; and six grandchildren.

Survivors include two sons, Robert Funches of Long Beach, Calif., and LeRoy Willis of Los Angeles; four daughters, Ardella Wall, Clara Berry and Burtee Hunt, all of Los Angeles, and Patricia Wright of Vicksburg; her sister, Idella Owens of Berkely, Calif.; 25 grandchildren; 77 great-grandchildren; 43 great-great-grandchildren; and other relatives.

IRENE JOHNSON

Services for Irene Johnson will be at noon Thursday at Travelers Rest M.B. Church with the Rev. Thomas Benard officiating. Burial will follow at Porters Chapel Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 1 until 7 tonight at Robbins Funeral Home and from 11 a.m. Thursday until the service at the church.

Mrs. Johnson died Monday, July 8, 2002, at Vicksburg Convalescent Home. She was 82.

A Vicksburg native, Mrs. Johnson was a homemaker and member of Travelers Rest M.B. Church.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Henry Johnson; and five brothers, John Perkins, Joe Perkins, Albert Perkins, Ben Perkins and Oliver Perkins.

She is survived by three sisters, Thelma Kent Jones and Ollie Whittaker, both of Vicksburg, and Mary Jane Fenderson of New Orleans; two brothers, Melvin Perkins of Vicksburg and Robert McCoy of Chicago; and other relatives and friends.

VONNIE V. FORTENBERRY MAGEE

TYLERTOWN Vonnie V. Fortenberry Magee died Sunday, July 7, 2002, at Walthall General Hospital. She was 75.

Born in Walthall County, Mrs. Magee was a resident of Tylertown. She was a homemaker and member of Brandon Bay United Methodist Church, where she had served as Communion steward.

She attended Walthall Public Schools. She worked as a teacher assistant for Project Head Start and also served as a midwife for more than 20 years.

Mrs. Magee was a member and president of Women’s Society of Christian Service and the United Methodist Women.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Abrease Fortenberry Sr. and Rutha Lewis Fortenberry; a daughter, Lois N. Magee Anderson; a sister, Maude Lee Bullock; and three brothers, Abrease Fortenberry Jr., Major Lee Fortenberry Sr. and J.L. “Teddy” Fortenberry.

Survivors include her husband, Willard L. Magee of Tylertown; two sons, Larry L. Magee of Tylertown and Lester L. Magee of Vicksburg; four daughters, Agnes M. Lyles and Faye Elsie M. Thompson, both of Vicksburg, Dorothy Sellers of Columbia and Cynthia Magee of Pascagoula; two brothers, Premium Fortenberry and Edwin Fortenberry, both of New Orleans; six sisters, Mattie Lee Jackson and Betty Fortenberry of New Orleans, Mellow V. McGowan of Lumberton, Eunice Hamblin of Tylertown, Norlean Bickham of Franklinton, La., and Laura Magee, whom she reared, of Chicago; 20 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Brandon Bay United Methodist Church in Tylertown with Dr. J.D. Tillman officiating. Burial will follow at the church cemetery.

Visitation will be until 6 tonight, followed by a wake service until 8 p.m., at Washington-Richmond Funeral Home in Tylertown.

MISHKA SHA COLE MIMS

SEFFNER, Fla. Services for Mishka Sha Cole Mims will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Williams Funeral Service. Burial will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Miss Mims died Saturday, July 6, 2002, at Tampa General hospital in Tampa, Fla. She was 13.

She attended Vicksburg Warren Public Schools before moving to Seffner. She was a member of Without Walls International Church in Seffner and attended Horace Mann Middle School in Seffner.

She was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Bertha and Clarence Sullivan; and her maternal grandparents, Rufus Mims Jr. and Lenora Mims.

She is survived by her parents, Delores Mims of Vicksburg and Louis Sullivan of Seffner; her stepmother, Tracy Sullivan of Seffner; a brother, Quinton Mims of Vicksburg; two stepbrothers, Sidney Sullivan and Chadwick Sullivan, both of Seffner; her stepsister, Angel Taylor of Seffner; and other relatives.

PATRICIA SMOOTS

RIVERDALE, Ga. Patricia “Gal” Smoots died Friday, July 5, 2002, in Riverdale, Ga. She was 48.

Mrs. Smoots was born in Redwood.

She was preceded in death by her father, the Rev. Henry Lewis Sr.; and her grandmother, Mary Branch.

She is survived by her husband, Melvin Smoots of Riverdale; her daughter, Tisha Smoots of Riverdale; her son, Lamar Smoots of Riverdale; her mother, Lela Lewis of Redwood; four sisters, Ida Wright, Gracie Fountain, Jessie Lewis and Millie Lewis, all of Redwood; three brothers, Henry Lewis Jr. and Willie Earl Lewis, both of Redwood, and Charles Lewis of Milwaukee, Wis.; and other relatives, including the Lewis, Ragan and Smoots families.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday in Riverdale under the direction of Donald Trimble Mortuary Service.