Johnnie Sanderford

ROLLING FORK – Johnnie Sanderford died Wednesday, March 16, 2005, at River Region Medical Center. He was 77.

Mr. Sanderford had lived in Rolling Fork most of his life. He was a veteran of the Army, serving in World War II. He retired from the Mississippi National Guard after 26 years of service and was also a retired truck driver.

Mr. Sanderford was a member of the Russellville Hunting Club and Chief’s Hut Hunting Club. He was a member of Deer Creek Baptist Church and its Men’s Sunday school class.

Survivors include his wife, Evelyn W. Sanderford of Rolling Fork; two daughters, Wanda Anglin of Horn Lake and Linda Caldwell of Purvis; a stepdaughter, Mary Huff of Holly Bluff; two stepsons, David Tilghman and Charles Ray Tilghman, both of Rolling Fork; and 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Deer Creek Baptist Church with the Rev. Carl Barnes officiating. Burial will follow at Mound Cemetery.

Visitation will be at the church from 9 a.m. Friday until the service.

Pallbearers will be Andrew Caldwell, Phillip Caldwell, Chase Anglin, John David Tilghman, Justin Griffin and Brad Tilghman.

Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Russellville Hunting Club, Chief’s Hut Hunting Club and Men’s Sunday School Class at Deer Creek Baptist Church.

Dorothy Allee Davidson Shaifer

PORT GIBSON – Dorothy Allee Davidson Shaifer died at her home in Port Gibson on the morning of March 15, 2005. She was 96.

Born March 21, 1908, she was the oldest of six children living in Holly Grove, Ark., just west of Helena. She attended what is now called Lyon College in Batesville, Ark., and then settled in Indianola, Miss., working for the Sunflower County Red Cross as a secretary. In 1930, she married S.B. “Shag” Shaifer, and they lived in Indianola until moving to Leland where Mr. Shaifer was manager of the Leland Oil Works, which was connected with the Port Gibson Oil Works.

During her years in Leland, Mrs. Shaifer was president of the Junior Auxiliary and the Leland Garden Club. She was also a very active member of the Leland Presbyterian Church. She served as the president of the Women of the Church and taught the Bible lesson for many years in her women’s circle. She was Sunday school superintendent and participated with other women of the Leland church in teaching weekly Bible classes to children at the local black public school.

Following Mr. Shaifer’s retirement from the oil mill, they moved to Holly Grove where many of her family still lived. In 1979, they moved to Port Gibson to take care of Mr. Shaifer’s sister Laura, who was in poor health. During her time in Port Gibson, Mrs. Shaifer was an avid birdwatcher, gardener and quilter and was a friend to all. She showed a great interest in local history, assisting Charles Sullivan in identifying and marking the graves of the Confederate soldiers in the Wintergreen Cemetery.

Mrs. Shaifer was predeceased by her husband as well as by her son, Sanfrid “Sammy” Davidson Shaifer.

She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Shaifer Hollingsworth and husband, Alton, and her daughter-in-law, Mary Shaifer Boteler and husband, E.L. She is also survived by six grandchildren and their spouses: Laura S. and Leslie Bell, Jodie S. and Hartwell Huddleston, Allison H. and Andy Moxey, Ann H. and Peter Weeden, Sanfrid and Stefanie Shaifer, and Christopher and Rosemary Hollingsworth. Beloved great-grandchildren are Shaifer and Lindsey Bell; Mary Elizabeth and Bert Huddleston; Tyler, Ashley Shaifer and Todd Davidson Moxey; Alexander and Samuel Weeden; Michael and Mary Clare Shaifer; and Colin and Julia Elizabeth Hollingsworth. Other survivors are sisters Virginia Rose Davidson Johnson, Nena Davidson Bradham and Glenda Delong Davidson.

Visitation will be Friday afternoon at the family home at 1001 Church St. in Port Gibson beginning at 4 p.m.

Services will be at the First Presbyterian Church of Port Gibson at 11 a.m. Saturday. Burial will follow at Wintergreen Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Holly Grove Presbyterian Church, the Leland Presbyterian Church or the First Presbyterian Church of Port Gibson.

Mary Katherine Brooks Vitanza

HUMBLE, Texas – Mary Katherine Brooks Vitanza died Monday, Jan. 31, 2005, in Humble, Texas. She was 77.

Born in West, Miss., Mrs. Vitanza was reared in Vaiden and was a former resident of Vicksburg.

She was employed with Southern Bell Telephone Co. before transferring to Southwestern Bell in Houston.

She is survived by a daughter, Judy Cohn of Humble; one sister, Nora Pauline Baylot of Lawrenceville, Ga.; two grandchildren; and nieces, nephews and other relatives.

Memorial services will be Saturday at Vaiden Methodist Church. Burial will follow at Providence Cemetery in the Carmack community.

Clora Alice Wood Wylie

MURFREESBORO, Ark. – Clora Alice Wood Wylie died Tuesday, March 15, 2005, in Murfreesboro, Ark. She was 97.

Mrs. Wylie was born in Fordyce, Ark., to William Marion and Dolly Stell Wood. She was a member of First United Methodist Church of Murfreesboro and the Murfreesboro Band Boosters. She volunteered for the American Cancer Society.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James Wylie; three brothers, Carol Wood, Jack Wood and Neil Wood; and three sisters, Ruby Jordan, Ruth Wright and Rachel Mosley.

Survivors include four sons, Jimmy Wood Wylie of Sumter, S.C., William Stephen Wylie of Jacksonville, Ark., Abram Ross Wylie III of Little Rock and Robert David Wylie of Hot Springs, Ark., formerly of Vicksburg; a daughter, Dolly Antonia Johnson of Murfreesboro; six grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and nieces, nephews and friends.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at First United Methodist Church of Murfreesboro with Keith Dodson and Freeman Henderson officiating. Burial will be at 3 p.m. Friday at Hampton Springs Cemetery near Carthage, Ark.

Visitation will be from 6 until 8 tonight at Latimer Funeral Home in Murfreesboro.

Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church Building Fund, Pike County Hospital or American Cancer Society.