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.

Georgia Thomas Dent

Services for Georgia Thomas Dent will be at noon Sunday at the Vicksburg City Auditorium with the Rev. Casey Fisher officiating. Burial will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Visitation will be from noon until 3 p.m. Saturday at Lakeview Memorial Funeral Home; from 4 until 6 p.m. Saturday at Jackson Street M.B. Church; and Sunday at the Vicksburg City Auditorium from 11 a.m. until the service.

Georgia Dent, the former Georgia Thomas, was the only child of the late Annie Belle Knox Brown and the late McKinley Thomas. She attended elementary and high school in Vicksburg and also attended college at Grambling State, Alcorn State and Jackson State universities.

She was a member of Jackson Street M.B. Church and retired from Mississippi Action for Progress Inc. (Head Start).

Mrs. Dent was employed with Mississippi Action for Progress Inc. for 37 years. She was instrumental in directing Head Start staff as the Region II manager of Warren, Claiborne, Franklin and Lincoln counties. While promoting growth within her region, she also encouraged staff to provide quality services to children and their families to ensure a brighter tomorrow for the state and providing every child with a head start in life, an equal opportunity to develop character, talent, mind, body and personality.

Beyond Mrs. Dent’s professional life, her significant contributions to the community were: member of the National Head Start Association; charter member and past president of Vicksburg Chapter of Links Inc.; president of the board of directors of Vicksburg Family Development Inc.; vice president of the Elite Civic Club; Mississippi Action for Progress Inc. Alumni Association; Retired Education Personnel of Vicksburg-Warren County; charter member of the Vicksburg Homecoming Benevolent Club; first president, former member of the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce; former president of the Paramount Civic and Social Club; and past board member of the Child Abuse Prevention Center.

She was the mother of four children, Belton Dent Jr. of Vicksburg, Yolanda Dent of The Woodlands, Texas, Michele Dent Thomas of Vicksburg and Kevin C. Dent of Jackson; grandmother of three, Crystal, Larry and Andre; and godmother of Milton Beverly. Those whose lives she has deeply touched are her uncle, J.W. Knox Sr; cousin, J.W. Knox Jr.; and other relatives and friends, including the Knox, Thomas and Funches families and Jackie Benard.

Harry L. Polk

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Harry L. Polk died Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008, at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis. He was 76.

A native of Vidalia, La., he lived in Vicksburg for several years before moving to St. Louis. He was educated in the Vicksburg School System and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He retired from the St. Louis Airport Holiday Inn.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Cedo Polk and Clara Polk Smith; one brother, Cedo Polk Jr.; and one sister, Carrie Thompson.

Survivors include his wife, Delores Polk; five sons, James Lamar Polk and Kelvin Polk, both of Vicksburg, and Barry Polk, Tyrone Polk and Michael Polk, all of St. Louis; five daughters, Debra Polk Sampson, Harriet Moore and Debra L. Polk, all of Vicksburg, Eunice Polk of Oxford, La., and Teresa Polk Brown of St. Louis; four sisters, JohnAnn Eaton of Baton Rouge, Deborah Cameron of Clarksville, Tenn., Cassandra Payne of St. Louis and Lisa Polk of Atlanta; three brothers, Glenn Smith of Washington, D.C., Michael Smith of St. Louis and Reginald Polk of Atlanta; 19 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and nieces, nephews, other relatives and special friends.

Burial was at the National Military Cemetery in Jefferson Barracks, Mo., with Ted Foster & Sons Funeral Home of St. Louis in charge.

Bell Newell Simrall III

BALLGROUND — Bell Newell Simrall III, 66, died Feb. 28, 2008, at River Region Medical Center in Vicksburg after long complications following a stroke. Funeral services are at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church, Vicksburg, with the Rev. Bill Whitwer officiating. Visitation will be from 5 until 7 tonight at Glenwood Funeral Home and at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Simrall was born Dec. 29, 1941, in Vicksburg to Newell and Calista Simrall.

Preceding him in death are his parents; his wife, Becky Seago Simrall; his brother, Neil Hackett Simrall; and his son, Mark Moyers Simrall.

After attending the University of Mississippi and graduating from Mississippi College, he owned and operated Ballground Plantation. He served as a member of various agricultural boards, including the Warren County ASCS USDA, Soil Conservation, Delta Council, president of Valley Park Elevator and was appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour to the Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board. He also served as the chairman of the board of the Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association and was a member of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Southwest Mississippi Power Association.

Mr. Simrall was a lifelong member of First Presbyterian Church and also attended Redwood United Methodist Church.

He is survived by four sons, Newell Simrall IV and wife Sweyn of Jackson, Karsten Simrall and wife Holley of Ballground, De Ferguson and wife Stacey of Bovina and John Seago of Vicksburg; one daughter, Rea Simrall Leist and husband Dewayne of Ballground; 11 grandchildren, McKay Simrall of Jackson, Newell Simrall V of Jackson, Caroline Simrall and Kate Simrall of Ballground, Sarah Simrall Smith of Hattiesburg, Adi Love Leist of Ballground, Danny Ferguson, Jacey Ferguson, Ashley Stabler, Chelsey Farrell and Karley Farrell, all of Bovina; and a special aunt, Josephine Simrall Gilliland.

Pallbearers are Jimmy Moore, Mike Cappaert, Mike Chaney, Albert Dornbusch, Don S. Miller Jr., J.E. “Brother” Blackburn, Gene Parker, D.P. Waring and David L. Smith.

Honorary pallbearers are the employees of Ballground Plantation.

Memorials may be made to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes-Coaches Bible Fund, P.O. Box 449, Ridgeland, MS 39158 or to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-1942.