The Vicksburg Post prints obituaries for residents, former residents and residents’ immediate family members who resided elsewhere when notified by a family member or a funeral home. There is no charge for printing an obituary, but all are edited to meet the newspaper’s requirements.

THOMAS COFFIE JR.

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Services for Thomas Coffie Jr. will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at New Zion Baptist Church, 8188 Halls Ferry Road. Burial will follow at Locust Grove M.B. Church Cemetery in Fayette.

Visitation will be from 7 until 8 tonight at W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home.

Mr. Coffie died Monday, Dec. 16, 2002, at Summit Hospital in West Monroe, La. He was 82.

A resident of Vicksburg, Mr. Coffie was a Navy veteran serving during World War II on the USS Franklin. He retired from Waterways Experiment Station after 26 years of service and was a deacon of Mount Zion Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Annie Beatrice Allison-Coffie and Thomas Coffie Sr.; two brothers, L.A. Coffie and Nathaniel Coffie; and a sister, Catherine Coffie Vanderson.

Survivors include his wife, Chestine Coffie; five sons, John Burnell Coffie of Fayetteville, N.C., Sonny Nicholson of Austin, Texas, Tommy Coffie of Jackson, and Jake Coffie and Bobby Coffie, both of Vicksburg; four daughters, Isabella Robinson of Stafford, Va., Betty Hardy and Kathy Coffie Tyler, both of Vicksburg, and Ann Archie of Los Angeles; three brothers, Percy Jackson of Birmingham, Ala., Kenneth Coffie of Fayette and Larry Coffie of Los Angeles; three sisters, Gloria Berry, Sarah Clark and Jestina Ainsworth, all of Fayette; 23 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

.CORNELIUS HENRY JOHNSON JR.

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Cornelius “Tat” Henry Johnson Jr. died Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2002, at Delta Regional Medical Center. He was 40.

A resident of Vicksburg, Mr. Johnson was a member of First Baptist M.B. Church. He was employed by Floyd Kelly Antiques.

He was preceded in death by his father, Cornelius Henry Johnson Sr.; and a brother, Andrew Louis Johnson.

Survivors include his mother, Juanita Johnson of Vicksburg; five brothers, Melvin Cooper, Joseph Johnson, Tommie Johnson and Edward Johnson, all of Vicksburg, and Terry Johnson of Jackson; three sisters, Patricia Cox of Vicksburg and Carol Cooper and Cheryl Wilson, both of Kalamazoo, Mich.; and other relatives and friends.

Williams Funeral Service has charge of arrangements.

.LILLY BERNICE McKAY

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RICHMOND, La. Lilly Bernice McKay died Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2002, at The Olive Branch in Richmond, La. She was 87.

A resident of Richmond, Mrs. McKay was a member and former youth leader at United Methodist Church in Delhi. She was a member of the Lee Emmett Chapter No. 198 of the Eastern Star.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank Fay McKay; her parents, Archie Brown Pullen and Francis May Pullen; two brothers, Walter Pullen and Julius Pullen; and three sisters, Bertha Pullen Barnard, Kate Theresa Pullen Moore and Inez Pullen Guinn Davis.

Survivors include two sons, Frank Fay McKay Jr. of Highlands, Texas, and Dr. Robert Michael McKay of Layfayette, La.; a daughter, Brenda McKay Neumann of Vicksburg; nine grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Delhi United Methodist Church with the Revs. Joe Roundtree and Kibbie Hatfield officiating. Burial will follow at Delhi Masonic Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 5 until 8 tonight at Cox Funeral Home in Delhi.

Pallbearers will be the grandsons.

.RUBY LEE PARDEN

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OAK GROVE Ruby Lee Parden died Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2002, at her home in Oak Grove. She was 57.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Archie Calvin Ellerbe Sr. and Ada Belle Ellerbe; and two brothers, Bill Ellerbe and Bud Ellerbe.

Survivors include her husband, Rayburn Parden of Oak Grove; a daughter, Mary Pillars of Pioneer, La.; two brothers, A.C. Ellerbe of Lucedale, Miss., and Leon Ellerbe of Forest, La.; four sisters, Myrtle Phillips of Oak Grove and Mildred Bell, Louise Pitts and Doris Walters, all of Seminary, Miss.; and two grandsons, Johnathan Terry Pillars and James Rayburn Pillars, both of Pioneer.

Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Cox Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Kenny Herring and Dr. James Parker officiating. Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Rayburn E. Crosby, James Bruce, Virgil Ray Bonner, Wilbur Hill, Enos Wicker, Leonard Wicker and Phil White.