TALLULAH — John W. Crowther Jr. died Friday, Dec. 25, 2009, at Olive Branch Senior Care Center in Tallulah. He was 89.

A native of Decatur, Ala., Mr. Crowther was a resident of New Orleans for a number of years and moved to Tallulah following Hurricane Katrina.

He was the son of the late John Wilkerson Sr. and Alline Lavecchia Crowther. He received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 1950 and retired as an associate professor of English at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Mr. Crowther was of the Catholic faith.

He is survived by a number of relatives, including members of the Crowther, Roesch and Reddoch families of Vicksburg.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Paul Catholic Church with Monsignor Patrick Farrell officiating. Burial will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery under the direction of Fisher Funeral Home. Visitation will be at the church Tuesday from 9 a.m. until the service.

Pallbearers will be George Roesch Sr., George Roesch Jr., Carl Crowther, Dan Fordice, Gregg Pettersen, John Albert Pettersen, Jerome Booth and Donald Roesch.

Honorary pallbearers will be Robert and Virginia Lindsey, Don Kosch, Charles Crowther, Edward Crowther, Rodney and Gerri Caruso, Elmo Gautreau, Dr. L.P. Newmann and staff members of Patient’s Choice Hospice and Olive Branch Senior Care Center.