July 4, 2005

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 5, 2005

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.

Leonard Butler Jr.

Leonard Butler Jr. died Saturday July 2, 2005, at his home in Vicksburg. He was 85.

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Mr. Butler was a retired heavy-equipment operator and self-employed mechanic and a member of Mount Zion M.B. Church.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Eliza Ann Butler; his father, Ed Tyler; a stepfather, Austin Butler; one brother, Johnny Woods; and one sister, Viola Neal.

Survivors include his wife, Clarise Jackson Butler; six sons, Melvin Butler, Eddie Ray Butler, Derrick Butler and Elvis Butler, all of Vicksburg, Leonard Butler III of Detroit and Cedric Butler of Romble, Mich.; two stepsons, Larry Butler and Charles Hughes, both of Vicksburg; six daughters, Senovia Butler, Deborah Butler and Carolyn Butler, all of Vicksburg, Sharon Butler of Detroit and Ernestine Butler and Barbara Butler, both of Austin, Texas; one stepdaughter, Velva Ann Bullatte of Detroit.

W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

John B. Hill Jr.

John B. Hill Jr. died Saturday July 2, 2005, at his Vicksburg home. He was 85.

Mr. Hill was born in Hinds County and was a resident of Vicksburg for 75 years. He was a retired maintenance supervisor for First Baptist Church in Vicksburg. An avid sportsman, he was a World War II veteran of the Navy. Mr. Hill was a member of First Baptist Church of Vicksburg.

Survivors include his wife, Doris Hart Hill of Vicksburg; two sons, John B. Hill of Vicksburg and Robert Hill of Stillwell, Okla.; two daughters, Shirley Morris of Vicksburg and Margaret Frazier of Houston, Texas; a brother, Henry Hill of Vicksburg; two sisters, Sarah Crowson and Ernestine Robertson, both of Vicksburg; and 15 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Glenwood Funeral Home with burial at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Charlie Crowther, Tom Hill, Charlie Caldwell, Durwood Tadlock, Doug Stroud and Doug Davidson.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Geneva Sankstone Lewis

HOLLANDALE – Geneva Sankstone Lewis died Sunday July 3, 2005, at her home in Hollandale.

Mrs. Lewis graduated from Arcola Consolidated High School and attended Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus and Theodore Bohlman School of Music in Memphis.

She had been a longtime resident of Vicksburg, where she was a member of the Vicksburg and Warren County Historical Society, past president of Vicksburg Council of Garden Clubs, an American Red Cross Gray Lady Volunteer for 30 years and a charter Board Member of the Warren County Easter Seal Society.

In Hollandale, she was a member of Hebrew Union Temple, the Hebrew Union Temple Sisterhood in Greenville and the Hollandale Garden Club.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Jacob Isaac Sankstone and Henrietta Rosenbaum Sankstone; and her husband, Simon Joseph Lewis.

She is survived by Dot Peyton, Mary Jane Irving and Alice Buckman.

Services will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Hebrew Union Temple in Greenville with Rabbi Debra Kassoff officiating.

Visitation will be from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Boone-Wells Funeral Home in Greenville.

Memorials may be made to Hebrew Union Temple Cemetery Fund, P.O. Box 1333, Greenville, MS, 38701.

James Vernon Travis

NEW ORLEANS – James Vernon Travis died Friday July 1, 2005, at Meadowcrest Hospital in Gretna, La. He was 77.

Mr. Travis was born and reared in Epps, La. He served in the Navy for four years and was a railroad employee for several years. For the past 35 years, Mr. Travis was a resident of New Orleans, where he was a builder and paint contractor. He also owned a restaurant in Gretna.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward and Beulah Travis; four brothers, Arnold Pledger, Oliver Travis, Lee Ray Travis and James William Travis; three sisters, Jewel Travis Copes, Geneva Travis Wilson and Edith Mae Travis McEachern.

Survivors include his wife, Ann Johnson Travis of New Orleans; two sons, James Victor Travis Sr. of New Orleans and Larry Dale Travis of Georgia; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Cox Funeral Home Chapel in Delhi with the Rev. Joe Hamilton officiating.

Visitation will be from 5 until 8 this evening and 9 a.m. Tuesday until the service at Cox Funeral Home Chapel.

Pallbearers will be Sonny Muse, Lonnie Cockrell, Nicholas Travis, Justin Travis, James Victor Travis and Shawn Champaigne.