By Staff
Carpenter
SEBASTOPOL Services for Jessie Lee Bell will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Bogue Chitto Baptist Church with the Rev. Doby Henry officiating. Burial will be in the Bogue Chitto Community Cemetery with Milling Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Bell, 51, of Philadelphia, died Monday, Dec. 24, 2001.
Survivors include seven sisters, Ella Mae Issac of Chicago, Ill.; Nannie Ruth Whiteman of Lame Dear, Mont., and Ruby Thomas, Velmarie Wesley, Shirley Jefferson, Gloria Hickman and Linda McMillan, all of Philadelphia; two brothers, Robert and Truman Bell, both of Philadelphia; and several nieces, nephews and friends.
VESTRIE N. PILGRIM
Homemaker
PHILADELPHIA Services for Vestrie N. Pilgrim will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at McClain-Hays Chapel with the Revs. Barron Pilgrim and Dr. Wayne Hill officiating. Burial will be in Cedarlawn Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Mrs. Pilgrim, 86, of Philadelphia, died Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2001 at The Specialty Hospital of Meridian.
Survivors include two daughters, Nell Ryals and Margie Jayroe, both of Philadelphia; four grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, two step great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren and one step-great-great-grandchild.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jesse Pilgrim and her daughter, Lena Mae Ellingburg.
Visitation will be today from 4 p.m.9 p.m. at the funeral home.
CARRIE ESTELLE SMITH
Homemaker/store owner
QUITMAN Services for Carrie Estelle Smith will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at East Pleasant Grove Baptist Church with the Revs. Albert Creel and Paul Childress officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery with Wright's Funeral Home of Quitman in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Smith, 90, of Quitman, died Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2001 at H.C. Watkins Memorial Hospital. She was a housewife and grocery store owner.
Survivors include two sons, Lamar and Lavon Slade, both of Hattiesburg; her daughter, Frances Vanney of LaCombe, La.; a sister, Myrle Davis of Quitman; five grandchildren, Victoria McCarra of Quitman, Onel, Michael and David Ivy, all of New Orleans, and Carlo Ivy of Va.; and four great-grandchildren, Carrie Daigrepont, and Emerald, Rose Anna and Joshua Ivy.
Visitation will be from 5 p.m.9 p.m. at the funeral home.
STELLA S. TEUNISSON
Homemaker
Services for Stella S. Teunisson will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at Central United Methodist Church with the Rev. Jimmy Harrison officiating. Burial will be in Lakewood Cemetery in Jackson with James F. Webb Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Teunisson, 85, of Memphis, Tenn., died Sunday, Dec. 23, 2001, in Memphis.
She was born in Okalona and was a member of the Upper Room Sunday school class at Central United Methodist Church.
Survivors include a daughter, Patricia Duncan of Memphis, Tenn.; a granddaughter, Amy Ray Hood and a grandson, Bryan Clell Ray.
She was preceded in death by her husband, George Teunisson.
Visitation is Friday from 12:30 p.m. until the service at Central United Methodist Church.
LEROY GIBBS
Retired from U.S. Army
Services for Leroy Gibbs will be held Saturday at noon at Elizabeth Baptist Church in Lauderdale. Burial will be in Elizabeth Cemetery with Berry &Gardner Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Gibbs, 72, of Meridian, died Monday, Dec. 24, 2001, at Rush Foundation Hospital. He retired as a sergeant major with the U.S. Army.
Survivors include his wife, Richetta Brown Gibbs of Alexandria, La.; a daughter, Brenda Gibbs of New Orleans; two brothers, the Rev. John B. Gibbs of of Lauderdale and Sylvester Gibbs of Compton, Calif.; and five sisters, Ruby Barnes, Gertrude Paylor and Charity Matthews, all of Meridian, and Charlotte Nelson of Cuba, Ala., and Polly Webb of Detroit, Mich.
Visitation is Friday from 5:30 p.m.6:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
ELGIN THOMAS HOUSTON
Logger
DEKALB Services for Elgin Thomas Houston will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mt. Pisgah Misssionary Baptist Church in Preston with the Rev. Donald Bryant officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery with E.E. McDonald Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Houston, 53, of Preston, died Dec. 21, 2001, in Preston.
Survivors include his wife, Naydean Creekmore; fours sons, Elgin T. Houston and his wife, Jessica, both of Preston, Malcom M. Houston and his wife, Vialisa, of Philadelphia, Donald Creekmore and his wife, Mitzi, of Union, and Keyon Chamberlin of Preston; two daughters, Angela Salazar and her husband, Albert, of Meridian, and Citina Creekmore of DeKalb; a brother, Osler Houston of Rock Island, Ill.; a sister, Dorothy Loving of Memphis, Tenn.; seven grandchildren, uncles, aunts and a host of nieces, nephews other relatives and friends.
Visitation will be Friday from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
JEAN SNEED
Arrangements were incomplete at Barham Funeral Home for Jean Sneed of Meridian, who died Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2001, at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center.
JANE KELLER WATTS FITTS
Homemaker
Jane Keller Watts Fitts, 75, a homemaker, died Wednesday morning, Dec. 26, 2001, at her home in Jackson. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, 2002, at St. Stephen's Anglican Mission in America. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. from the church. Mark Seepe Funeral Home of Jackson is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Fitts was born in Huntsville, Ala., on May 20, 1926, into one of the founding families of Madison County, Ala. She attended the University of Alabama, where she was a member of the Chi Omega Sorority and also represented the University of Alabama Million Dollar Band as its "Miss Alabama." In 1947, she married Charles Middleton Fitts Jr. of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Meridian, her husband of 54 years.
In addition to devoting her life to her family, she had been active in the Jackson Symphony League, Jackson Opera Guild, Briarwood Garden Club and the Brook Garden Club, where she served as vice president during 2000 and 2001. She had an unquenchable love of nature and wildlife and domestic animals.
With her husband, she was a member of St. James Episcopal Church and was a founding member of St. Phillips Episcopal Church. She was an active communicant of St. Stephen's Anglican Mission in America in Flowood.
Mrs. Fitts is preceded in death by her parents, Clarence Lee Watts Sr. and Inez Looney Watts of Huntsville, Ala., and her sister-in-law, Harriet Fitts Morrison of Meridian.
She is survived by her husband, Charlie Fitts; four daughters, Harriet Fitts of Fairhope, Ala.; Kathy Fitts Howard and her husband, Bill, Martha Fitts White and her husband, Albert, of Jackson, and Susan Fitts Davis and her husband, Dennis, of Brandon; eight grandchildren, Jennifer Paige Morrison and her husband, Lane, of Brandon, Anna Howard of Baton Rouge, La., Claire Howard of New York City, Sarah Davis, Drew Davis and James Davis of Brandon, Charlie White of Oxford and Keller White of Jackson; two brothers, Capt. William P. Watts and his wife, Ellie, of Huntsville, Ala., and C. Lee Watts Jr. and his wife, Kay, of Searcy, Ark.; two sisters, Margaret Watts Rieder and Elizabeth Watts Whitten of Huntsville, Ala.; three cousins, 11 nieces and nephews and special friends Eloise Grandberry and Cdell Hendricks.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be sent to St. Stephen's Church, 5049 Lakeland Drive, Flowood, MS, 39232; the Mississippi Animal Rescue League, 4395 South Drive, Jackson, MS, 39209; Hummer/Bird Study Group, Inc., P.O. Box 250, Clay, Ala., 35048-0250, or the charity of one's choice.