The Vicksburg Post prints obituaries in news form for area residents, their family members and for former residents at no charge. Families wishing to publish additional information or to use specific wording have the option of a paid obituary.

Doris R. Davis

Doris R. Davis died Friday, May 27, 2005, at River Region Medical Center. She was 77.

Mrs. Davis was born in Laurel and had lived in Vicksburg since 1947.

She was preceded in death by a daughter, Donna Davis Trost; her parents, John Grover Robinson and Iva Stringer Robinson; two brothers, Norman and Hascal Robinson; and two sisters, Evelyn Hull and Eileen Sharp.

She was a member of the Acacia Chapter No. 56 of the Order of the Eastern Star and Bowmar Baptist Church.

Survivors include two sons, Gerald B. Davis and his wife, Beverly, and Michael Alan Davis, all of Vicksburg; one brother, Charles F. Robinson of Springfield, Mo.; one sister, Helen Sink of Vicksburg; four grandchildren, Kim Price of Houston, Texas, Rebecca Grace of Tallulah, and Haley A. Davis and Gerald R. Davis Jr., both of Vicksburg; and four great-grandchildren, Travis Price and Colin Price of Houston, Texas, and Marc Grace and Dalton Grace of Tallulah.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Glenwood Funeral Home with the Revs. Terry White and Mark Rowlen officiating. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.

Pallbearers will be Gerald R. Davis Jr., Michael Lee, Tony Wallace, Richard Banks, Forrest Sink, Mark Wallace, Charles Haley and Dale Hearn.

Honorary pallbearers will be members of her Sunday School class and the Eastern Star, Brenda Banks and Dr. Murray Whitaker and his nurse, Nina, and the fifth-floor nursing staff.

Kenneth Arnold Heffner

Kenneth “Ken” Arnold Heffner, died Friday, May 27, 2005, at Willis Knighton Hospital in Bossier City, La. He was 49.

The Vicksburg native served as senior department manager for the J.C. Penney Company for 23 years, and had worked in New Orleans, Dothan, Ala., Pensacola, Fla., Jackson, Miss.; and most recently in Bossier City.

He was preceded in death by a daughter, Rachel Nicole Heffner.

Survivors include his wife, Belinda Joe “B.J.” Smith; a son, Kenneth Arnold Heffner, Jr., of Pensacola; and a stepson, John Christopher Lewis of Versailles, Ky.; his parents, Ray and Jean Heffner of Vicksburg, a brother, Lamar Heffner of Vicksburg; a sister, Darlene Vincent of Savannah, Ga.; and a sister, Angela Buckley of Collierville, Tenn.

Glenwood Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Memorials may be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at www.cff.org; 1-800-FIGHTCF; or Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 6931 Arlington, Bethesda, MD 20184.

John Henry Shelton

John Henry Shelton – Extraordinary Veteran, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Great-grandfather.

Visitation will be held for John H. Shelton at Fisher Funeral Home from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 29, 2005. Funeral services will be held at St. Michael Church at 10 a.m. on Monday, with Father P.J. Curley presiding, with full military interment at Lakewood Memorial Park in Jackson following the service. Mr. Shelton was a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Life dealt John a tough set of cards, but he turned these into a winning hand. Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Charles Welch, Joshua Welch, Dr. Anthony Bednar, Rick Curry, John Kirk and Robert Kintz.

Mr. Shelton was preceded in death by his infant daughter, Betty Jo Shelton of Sardinia, Ohio; his wife of 56 years, Mary Margaret McCann Shelton of Vicksburg; his mother and father, Elizabeth Wilson Shelton and Bertram Shelton of Liberty, Ky.; and his brother, Ed Shelton of Cincinnati. John is survived by his daughter, Terry Shelton Welch of Vicksburg; his granddaughters, Cynthia Welch of Guntersville, Ala., Meggie Welch of Los Angeles, Calif., and Dr. Amy Welch Bednar of Vicksburg; his grandson Joshua Welch of Covington, La.; his great-granddaughter Ryan Elizabeth Welch of Covington, La.; and his sister Kay Shelton Shockley of Cincinnati.

John was born in Liberty on July 19, 1926. On Aug. 24, 1942, at the age of 16, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, from which he retired approximately 31 years later (September 1973) as an Aviation Ordnanceman, First Class. His first tour was aboard the USS Belleau Wood CVL-24 from the winter of 1943 until the end of 1945, largely in the Pacific. During this time he is credited with helping to sink 12 heavy Japanese ships and 36 light ships, damaging an additional 83 Japanese ships and destroying 502 Japanese aircraft and 20 locomotives. The Belleau Wood was awarded 12 Battle Stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. John was 19 when the war in the Pacific ended.

During his next 28 years in the Navy he participated in many other major Cold War engagements, including the evacuation of the Nationalist Chinese from China to the Island of Formosa, the Cuban missile blockade and anti-submarine warfare conducted from naval aircraft.

He received many medals and citations. These included the Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Expeditionary Medal (Cuba), China Service Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal (two awards), Korean Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Cuba), Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, United Nations Service Medal and United Nations Medal, among others. He was cited for logging more than 2,000 flight hours in the P-2 Neptune Anti-Submarine Patrol Aircraft and more than 7,000 flight hours in the P-3 Orion Anti-submarine Patrol Aircraft.

Mr. Shelton was a natural athlete and successfully participated in Navy-sponsored amateur boxing, representing many of the Naval units to which he belonged. During the period of 1946 to 1947 Mr. Shelton was the AAU Champ, the 3rd Naval District Champ, the YMCA Southern Champ of California fighting in the welterweight class. He was runner-up for the All-Navy title in 1948. His career record was 40 wins in 53 bouts.

In 1980 John and Mary moved to Vicksburg to spend time with their daughter and grandchildren, adding significantly to their lives. He loved life and people. On Thursday, May 26, 2005, at 5:15 p.m. John joined his beloved wife and others in Heaven. We will sorely miss him.

Savannah Wheatley

Savannah Wheatley died Friday, May 26, 2005, at Promise Specialty Hospital. She was 85.

Mrs. Wheatley was a retired private-duty sitter.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Caesar Edwards and Mary Daniel Edwards; one son, Herman Wheatley; a sister, Ellen Fuller; and one brother, Peter James Edwards.

Survivors include two sons, Richard Wheatley of Monroe, La., and Reginald Wheatley of Houston; five daughters, Gladys Ellis of Chicago, Ernestine Allen, Robbie Hebron and Mary Calvin, all of Vicksburg, and Bernice Harrison of Houston, Texas; grandchildren; great-grandchildren; great-great grandchildren and other relatives and friends including Lewis Bailey and Robert Wheatley, both of Vicksburg.

Williams Funeral Service has charge of arrangements.