Services will be 11 a.m. Friday at Cross Point Methodist Protestant Church in Vicksburg for Howard E. Jennings Sr., 89, of Hattiesburg, formerly of Vicksburg.

Interment will be in Green Lawn Gardens Cemetery.

He passed away Monday, June 27, 2016, after losing a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

He was born Jan. 28, 1927, in McCool.

His lifelong love of aviation began as a young boy when he worked for a local crop duster washing airplanes in exchange for flying lessons. This continued throughout his life, owning various airplanes over the years. After a brief stint in the Navy at the end of WW II, he moved to Vicksburg, where he met his wife, Evelyn, and they were later married on Christmas Day 1947.

He began his career in the construction business there and continued to Cleveland, where he served as master mechanic during construction of the power plant.

Upon moving to Greenville, he established and operated Jennings Construction Co. for many years. Later returning to Vicksburg, he went to work on the building of the I-20 bridge over the Mississippi River.

In Vicksburg, where he raised his family, they enjoyed active membership at Highland Baptist Church. After retiring, he received great satisfaction working with his wife, Evelyn, at their daycare center, which operated for 20 years where they both impacted the lives of countless children and their parents.

Mr. Jennings was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn Jennings; one son-in-law, Ernie Brown; two sisters, Dorothy Tackett and Eloise Young and one great-granddaughter, Jessica Holloway Alkashgari.

He is survived by two sons, Howard E. Jennings Jr. of Utica and Mike Jennings of Ridgeland; two daughters, Carol J. Brown of Hattiesburg and Kathy Leonard of Ridgeland; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and seven great-great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation, 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800, Miami, FL 33131; www.parkinson.org; 1-800-473-4636.