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.

Deloris Ratliff Beard

FLINT, Mich. Deloris Ratliff Beard died Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004, at her home in Flint, Mich. She was 73.

A former Vicksburg resident, Miss Beard was a retired school teacher, having taught at Jim Hill High School in Jackson.

Survivors include a son, Martin Beard Jr. of Flint; nieces, nephews and cousins; and others, including the Squire, Rhodman and Gilmore families of Vicksburg.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Foss Avenue Baptist Church in Flint under the direction of Moon Funeral Home.

Syble Byargeon

OAK GROVE Syble Byargeon died Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004, at West Carroll Memorial Hospital in Oak Grove. She was 79.

Mrs. Byargeon was a resident of Oak Grove.

She was preceded in death by her husband, G.A. Byargeon; her parents, William Marcus and Celeste Bowman; and two brothers, Wayne Bowman and Marshall Douglas Bowman.

Survivors include a daughter, Carolyn Myers of Oak Grove; a son, Dennis Byargeon of Springtown, Texas; two grandchildren, Dennis Wayne Byargeon of Houston, Texas, and Heather Martinez of Oak Grove; and four great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Cox Funeral Home in Oak Grove with the Rev. Leslie Yates officiating. Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery.

Visitation will be until 9 tonight and Friday until the service at the church.

Pallbearers will be Bryan Butler, Ray Butler, Buddy Puckett, Ronald Bowman, Mark Bowman and M.G. Jones.

Elizabeth Edwards Cooper

LORMAN Elizabeth Edwards “Libby” Cooper died Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004, at Harriman Care and Rehabilitation Center in Oak Ridge, Tenn. She was 75.

A native of Natchez, Mrs. Cooper was a former bookkeeper for Southwest Power Association. She was a member of Cane Ridge Methodist Church in Lorman.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Bertha Helton; and her husbands, John Frank Edwards Jr. and Harold Cooper.

She is survived by two sons, John Thomas Edwards of Natchez and Eddie Edwards of Gulfport; one daughter, Cynthia Williams of Oak Ridge; and four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cane Ridge Cemetery in Lorman with the Rev. B.P. Jackson officiating. Burial will follow under the direction of Glenwood Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Cane Ridge Methodist Church.

Craig Mitchell

Services for Craig Mitchell will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at New Oak Ridge M.B. Church in Edwards with the Rev. Phillip Burks officiating. Burial will follow at Hinds County Henry Cemetery under the direction of Robbins Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

Mr. Mitchell died Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004, at his home. He was 44.

A native of Bogalusa, La., Mr. Mitchell was a resident of Vicksburg. He was a laborer and was of the Baptist faith.

Survivors include his father, Robert Moses of Bogalusa; his mother, Virginia Mitchell Smith of Edwards; two sisters, Sandra Robinson and Jerri Dean Peters, both of Bogalusa; four brothers, Isaac Moses and Charles Moses, both of New Orleans, and William Smith Jr. and Glenn Franklin Smith, both of Bogalusa; and other relatives.

Clara Stewart

Services for Clara Stewart will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Robbins Funeral Home with the Rev. Melvin Bolden officiating. Burial will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Friday and until the service Saturday at the funeral home.

Mrs. Stewart died Friday, Feb. 20, 2004, at River Region Medical Center. She was 72.

A native of Vicksburg, Mrs. Stewart was a retired domestic worker and was of the Baptist faith.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Marvin Stewart; and three brothers.

Survivors include a niece, Loretta Walker; a nephew, Cornelius Walker; and three cousins, Charlene Jones, Susie Scott and James Davis, all of Vicksburg.