Funeral servces will be Saturday for Warren County brothers who lived a total of 166 years and, by coincidence, died in different states within hours of each other.

Tillman and Lucien Whatley were 12 years apart in age, but they were close all their lives, relatives and friends said.

&#8220There was such an age difference that when Lucien was growing up, my dad was already out of the house,” said Steve Whatley, the only son of Tillman Whatley. &#8220I think they had the typical older brother-younger brother relationship,” he said.

Both were Vicksburg natives and war veterans – Tillman of World War II and Lucien of Korea. Their father, Richard Hawkins Whatley, died at 104.

Tillman Whatley was 89 when he died late Wednesday night at a retirement home in Monroe, Ga.

He worked at Waterways Experiment Station and The Vicksburg Post. He was a lifelong member of Bowmar Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon, youth leader, Sunday school teacher and music minister.

Hours after Tillman died, Lucien Whatley, without knowing about his brother’s death, died at Shady Lawn Nursing Home in Vicksburg early Thursday. He was 77 and had never married.

He raised cattle on his land in south Warren County, but Vicksburg residents might remember him otherwise.

&#8220People might not have known his name, but he always wore bright – often Hawaiian – shirts and packed his automobile full of all his treasures,” said Charles Riles, whose funeral home is handling arrangements.

&#8220You’d see him around town in his car and there was barely room for him because it was packed so full. He was a genuine free spirit,” Riles said. Lucien Whatley frequently walked through shopping areas, and was at Pemberton Square mall from opening until closing time many days.

&#8220My uncle was definitely his own person – part of which I think might have been from being a prison guard in Korea,” said Steve Whatley, who lives in Covington, Ga.

A double graveside service for the brothers will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Despite the age difference, Steve Whatley imagines the two are reliving old times in a better place.

&#8220They were both good people. At times they were jovial with one another, and at times they were antagonistic. I can see them now just like they used to be, ‘I beat you.’ ‘Well, maybe, but barely,’” he said.