Archives
 By  Staff Reports Published 
3:10 am Thursday, November 1, 2001

OBITUARIES FOR THURSDAY, NOV. 1, 2001

By Staff
WAYNE BROADHEAD
Manager
BUTLER, Ala. Services for Wayne Broadhead will be held today at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Butler with the Revs. Dennis Kennedy and Franklin McLelland officiating. Burial will be in Brightwater Cemetery with Bumpers Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Broadhead, 57, of Butler, died Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2001, at Rush Foundation Hospital.
Survivors include his wife, Pat M. Broadhead of Butler; his mother, Ida E. Broadhead of Needham; a son, Michael Broadhead of Atlanta; two daughters, Leight Blue of Monroe, La., and Katy Du of Butler; four sisters, Betty Westheimer of Jackson, Barbara Reid of Milton, Fla., Yvonne Spencer and Kathy Gray, both of Needham; and five grandchildren.
W.J. SMITH JR
Retired from South Central Bel
Services for W.J. Smith Jr. will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Barham Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Jason Bird officiating. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Mr. Smith, 81, of Meridian, died Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2001, in his home. He was a member of Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church and the Telephone Pioneers. He was employed with South Central Bell for 35 years.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy M. Smith of Meridian; two daughters, Betty Neal and her husband, Howard, of Niceville, Fla. and Kay Tennent of Boulder, Colo.; two sons, Billy Smith and his wife, Faye, of Meridian and Bobby Smith and his wife, Sherry, of Carthage; a sister, Zella Newell of Hattiesburg; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Joe and Millie Smith; and a grandson, Ricky Dick.
The family requests memorials be made to Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church Building Fund.
Pallbearers will be Richard VanDyke, Howard Neal, Mike Smith, Jeremy Stewart, Joe Newell and Alton Danielson.
Visitation will be today from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
RANDALL DEE SUMMERFORD
Retired microbiologist with Riley Hospital
AMORY Services for Randall Dee Summerford will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at Pickle Funeral Home with the Rev. Mac Phillips officiating. Burial will be in the Masonic Cemetery.
Mr. Summerford, 51, of Meridian, died Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2001, at the VA Hospital in Jackson. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving in Vietnam.
Survivors include his wife, Clara Summerford, two sons, Sean Summerford and Christopher Summerford, all of Meridian.
Visitation will be today from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. and until the service time on Friday at the funeral home.
ELMA L. ALEXANDER
Homemaker
PHILADELPHIA Services for Elma L. Alexander will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at McClain-Hays Funeral Service Chapel. Burial will be in Morrow Cemetery.
Mrs. Alexander, 91, of Millington, Tenn., died Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2001, at Methodist North Hospital in Memphis.
Survivors include two daughters, Dorothy Taylor of Hernando and Ollie Faye Ferguson of Brandon; a son, Samuel E. Alexander of Millington; a sister, Louise Thaggard of Madden; two brothers, Jim Lathem of Sebastopol and Wilson Lathem of Allen, Texas; 15 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a daughter, Irma Dean Dennis; and a son, Robert W. Alexander.
The family requests memorials be made to the Gideon's International.
Visitation will be today from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
CHARLES E. COLE
Retired electrician
Services for Charles E. Cole will be held Friday at 3 p.m. at James F. Webb Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Roy Dabbs officiating. Burial will be in Magnolia Cemetery.
Mr. Cole, 73, of Meridian, died Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001, at Heartfelt Hospice. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Survivors include his wife, Iva Grace Cole, his mother-in-law, Opal Smith, a son, Ricky Cole, a stepson, Bobby W. Bryan and his wife, Irene, all of Meridian; two daughters, Deborah Douglas and her husband, Butch, of Carriere and Judy Sansing of Meridian; a brother, Ed Cole of Baton Rouge, La.; a sister, Billie Dolphin of Natchez; 19 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Brandy Nicole Douglas.
Pallbearers will be Ron Vanado, Todd Douglas, Joey Douglas, Jacob, Jason and Jimmy Yeates.
Visitation will be today from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
JALYN D. CHRISTOPHER MOBLEY
DEKALB Services for Jalyn D. Christopher Mobley will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Collinsville with the Rev. Johnny Robinson officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery with E.E. McDonald Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Jalyn, 11-months-old, of Little Rock, died Saturday, Oct. 27, 2001, at Rush Foundation Hospital.
Survivors include his parents, Nikki C. McClelland and Christopher L. Mobley, both of Little Rock; his grandparents, Shirley McClelland of Little Rock, Wayne Merrill of Collinsville, Howard E. Mobley of Lauderdale and Sally J. Mobley of DeKalb; great-grandparents, Mary Ruth McClelland of Little Rock, Daily McClelland of Meridian and Edwin Merrill of Collinsville; several other relatives and friends.
Visitation will be Friday from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. at E.E. McDonald Chapel in Meridian.
MILDRED W. TODD
Arrangements were incomplete at Stephens Funeral Home for Mildred W. Todd, 85, of Collinsville, who died Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001, at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center.
JAMES GREGORY
Arrangements were incomplete at James F. Webb Funeral Home for James Gregory, 95, of Lauderdale, who died Thursday, Nov. 1, 2001, at Hometown Hospice.

Also on Franklin County Times
Russellville BOE receives clean audit report
News, Russellville
María Camp maria.camp@franklicountytimes.com 
March 20, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — The Russellville City Schools Board of Education received a clean financial audit for fiscal 2025 during its meeting on Tuesday.Buddy J...
Pilgrim’s renovations will add 100 jobs
Main, News, Russellville
Alyssa Sutherland For the FCT 
March 18, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — Pilgrim’s Pride’s poultry processing plant is undergoing a total overhaul that when completed will create 100 additional jobs. The over...
Hardware store hosts newest Connie’s Cabinet
Main, News, Russellville, ...
Bernie Delinski For the FCT 
March 18, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — Austin Williams said Monday he hopes a cabinet in front of Green’s Dependable Hardware helps those in need for food but also serves as ...
New animal control facility to cost $485K
Main, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
March 18, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — A new county animal control facility is set to be built next to the Franklin County Jail with construction expected to begin by month’s...
Hadrian, Navy partnering on project
News
Bernie Delinski For the FCT 
March 18, 2026
BARTON — Federal and local officials are gearing up for Friday’s public unveiling of a major defense project at the Barton Riverfront Industrial Park ...
Who defines professional competence in Alabama?
Columnists, Opinion
March 18, 2026
Irecently reviewed an extraordinary student paper. The student analyzed a proposed state policy, determined it conflicted with our profession’s ethica...
Gardens have their own notes in history
Columnists, Opinion
HERE AND NOW
March 18, 2026
Gardens often carry more history than people realize. That felt especially true this month, as our March meeting and the Liberty Tree ceremony at the ...
High power bills have church seeking answers, solutions
News, Russellville
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
March 18, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — Electric bills that have more than doubled in the past two months have officials at Cedars Church working with the Russellville Electri...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *