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.

Johnnie Lee Bridges

LAKE PROVIDENCE Johnnie Lee Bridges died Monday, Aug. 25, 2003, at the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Veterans Administration Medical Center in Jackson. He was 71.

Born in Gallion, La., Mr. Bridges was a resident of Lake Providence.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Wilbourne Franklin Bridges and Hattie Belle Bridges, and a brother, Bobby Joe Bridges.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Smith Bridges of Lake Providence; two sons, Wendell Bridges of Oak Grove and Tommy Bridges of Lake Providence; four sisters, Mary Lee Smith of Pine Bluff, Ark., Irene Frith of Transylvania, La., Betty Lou Pace of Oak Grove and Jimmie Doris Whitehead of Alexandria, La.; two brothers, Scott Bridges and Leroy Bridges, both of Lake Providence; and five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Cox Chapel in Lake Providence with the Rev. Roy Williams officiating. Burial will follow at Providence Memorial Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Joseph Martin, Cecil Parmentier, William Driver, Wayne Driver, Donald Thrush and Bobby Dettenhaim.

Mattie Mae Holmes McWilliams

Services for Mattie Mae Holmes McWilliams will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Zion Travelers Baptist Church.

Mrs. McWilliams died Sunday, Aug. 24, 2003, at St. Dominic Memorial Hospital in Jackson. She was 76.

Mrs. McWilliams had been a Vicksburg resident since the 1920s. She retired in 1987 from the Vicksburg Warren School District after 18 years of service. She was a member of Mount Zion M.B. Church No. 1 and served as musician for a number of churches, including Mount Zion M.B. Church in Chicago and Mount Zion No. 3 in Vicksburg. She was a pianist and organist at St. Mark, Bethlehem, King David and New Hope churches.

She was preceded in death by her husband, the Rev. Woodrow Webster McWilliams Sr.; two brothers, Fred Holmes Sr. and Robert Holmes; and her parents, Richard and Mattie Green Conway.

She is survived by two sons, Richard Earl McWilliams of Vicksburg and Woodrow W. McWilliams Jr. of Columbus, Ga.; three daughters, Beulah Dillon and Brenda McWilliams, both of Ridgeland, and Valor Williams of Vicksburg; one brother, George Holmes of Buffalo, N.Y.; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and nieces, nephews, friends and other relatives, including Robert Henderson of Alexandria, Va.

W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.

Florence Muse

TRANSYLVANIA, La. Florence Muse died Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2003, at Madison Parish Hospital in Tallulah. She was 84.

Mrs. Muse was a native of Bradley, Ark., and had been a Transylvania, La., resident for a number of years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Lonzo and Rose Wilson, and her husband, Martin Eli Muse.

She is survived by two sons, Jimmy Muse of Transylvania and Raymond Muse of Walker, La.; eight grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 3 p.m. today at Melbourne Baptist Church with the Rev. James Hayes officiating. Burial will follow at Herringville Cemetery in Monticello, La.

Pallbearers will be J.L. Myers, Frank Thornhill, Jody Stanford, Jason Muse, Randy Downing and Bo Skipper.