Leona F. Beesley

Services for Leona F. Beesley will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Fisher Funeral Home with the Rev. Terry White, pastor of Bowmar Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 6 until 8 tonight at the funeral home.

Mrs. Beesley died Friday, Oct. 29, 2004, at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson. She was 85.

A native and lifelong resident of Vicksburg, she was a member of Bowmar Baptist Church and its Fidelis Sunday School Class and the VFW Ladies Auxiliary.

She was preceded in death by her parents, John L. and Mary Whitten Boone; six brothers, John Austin Boone, J.W. Boone, Wilfred Boone, Vinkley Boone, Vernon Boone and Dan Boone; and two sisters, Louise Mullen and Margie Foley.

She is survived by two daughters, Darlene Hall of Panama City, Fla., and Yvonne “Bonnie” Bryant of Vicksburg; four sons, Grady Bryant of Hacienda Heights, Calif., Delton Moore of Jackson, Tom Purser III of Kiln and Jerry Purser of Slidell, La.; eight grandchildren; a great-grandson; and two sisters, Margaret Pagan and Annie Laura Hunter, both of Vicksburg.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons, Mike Bryant, John Purser, Troy Bryant, Jeff Hall, Montie Moore and Mitchell Moore.

Honorary pallbearers will be the Fidelis Sunday School Class and the senior fitness group.

Memorials may be made to Bowmar Baptist Church Building Fund, 1825 U.S. 61 South, Vicksburg, MS 39180.

Ray Anthony Burnett

DECATUR, Ga. Ray Anthony Burnett died Friday, Oct. 29, 2004, in Decatur, Ga. He was 43.

A former Vicksburg resident, Mr. Burnett had lived in Decatur for four years. He was a self-employed construction worker, a 1979 graduate of Vicksburg High School and attended Second Union M.B. Church.

He was preceded in death by his father, Frank W. Burnett.

Survivors include a son, Jaylen Ray Burnett of Decatur; a daughter, Latoya Campbell of Memphis; his mother, Easter Martin Burnett of Vicksburg; three sisters, Alice Virginia Burnett of Houston, Texas, and Mary Burnett Carter and Loretta Burnett, both of Vicksburg; a granddaughter, Tiah Campbell of Memphis; and other relatives.

Dillon-Chisley Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.

Alan Ebersole

Services for Alan Ebersole will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Paul Catholic Church with the Rev. Patrick Farrell, pastor, officiating. Private burial will follow.

Visitation will be from 3 until 7 p.m. Tuesday at Riles Funeral Home.

Mr. Ebersole died Friday, Oct. 29, 2004, while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast near Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 20.

Mr. Ebersole was a sophomore at Princeton University, where he was on the swimming and diving team. He was a lifelong resident of Vicksburg, a state-championship swimmer and salutatorian of the 2003 graduating class of St. Aloysius High School.

Among his honors were being selected for the Mississippi American Legion Boys State and as one of about 400 winners nationwide of the prestigious Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship.

He worked last summer in the campaign of Republican congressional candidate Clinton B. LeSueur.

He was a member of St. Paul Catholic Church and was a two-time winner of the Carol Guider Memorial Sportsmanship Award. He was a charter member and first president of the United Way’s Teen HELP Helping Every Life Progress.

Mr. Ebersole is survived by his parents, Story and Bruce Ebersole; two younger brothers, Bern and Jase Ebersole; his maternal grandparents, Jack and Laurin Stamm, all of Vicksburg; his paternal grandparents, Bernard Ebersole and Pat Ebersole, both of Lancaster, Pa.; his great-grandmother, Dorothy Stamm of Tallulah; and aunts, uncles and cousins.

Pallbearers will be Eric Williams, Riley B. Collins, Greg C. Langston, J. Carter Stamm, W. Craig Stamm, Bernard W. Ebersole Jr., Ryan Ebersole and Tyler Ebersole.

Honorary pallbearers will be Alex Frisbee, Blaise McMinn, Jamaal Clark and members of the St. Aloysius High School swim team, Vicksburg Swim Association and Princeton University swimming and diving teams.

Memorials may be made to United Way of West Central Mississippi, Teen HELP, 920 South St., Vicksburg, MS 39180; Vicksburg Catholic School, 1900 Grove St., Vicksburg, MS 39183; or to the Vicksburg Swim Association, 1100 Newit Vick Drive, Vicksburg MS 39183.

Helen Louise Hearn

Helen Louise Hearn died Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004, at her daughter’s home in Vicksburg. She was 65.

A Gulfport native, Mrs. Hearn had lived in Vicksburg for the past 50 years.

She is survived by three daughters, Jackie Rogers, Carol Walters and Pauline Lang, all of Vicksburg; four brothers, Bobby Boler of Vicksburg, David Blevins of New Orleans, Ernest Brown of Fort Smith, Ark., and Lonnie Blevins of Georgia; three sisters, Daisy Daniels of Eagle Lake, Nancy Worrell of Dallas and Mary Ellen Golden of Kilgore, Texas; and four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Private memorial services will be held later under the direction of Glenwood Funeral Home.

James Oscar Simmons Sr.

EPPS, La. James Oscar Simmons Sr. died Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004, at North Monroe Medical Center. He was 83.

Born in Crossett, Ark., Mr. Simmons was a resident of Epps, La. He was an Army veteran of World War II.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Myrtle Lucille Parrish Simmons; two sons, James Larry Simmons and Thomas Frances Simmons Sr.; and his parents, Neeley and Foley Simmons.

He is survived by four sons, James Oscar Simmons Jr. of Strong, Ark., Robert Simmons of Rayville, La., Wayne Simmons of Pioneer, La., and Buddy Simmons of Epps; three daughters, Susan Stutts of Tallulah, JoAnn Norsworthy of Strong and Patsy Rhodes of Epps; grandchildren; great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends, including Joe Sullivan and Marshall Harris, both of Epps.

Services were at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Walnut Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. Todd Perry officiating.

Pallbearers were Jason Hale, Jeffery Simmons, Thomas F. Simmons, Jr., Matthew Fife, Patrick Fife, Gary Vogel, Brian Donham and Vince Stubbs.

Honorary pallbearers were Joe Sullivan, Marshall Harris, Logan Prine, Brad Beaube, Scott Higdon, Hank Prine, Rob Simmons and Marc Simmons.