By Staff
GRETCHEN KENNEDY COALSON
QUITMAN Services for Gretchen Kennedy Coalson will be held today at 11 a.m. at Wright's Funeral Home. A memorial service will also be held Friday at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Biloxi.
Mrs. Coalson died Saturday, Jan. 5, 2002, at Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport, Maine. In May she moved to Maine from her longtime home in Biloxi to live with her daughter and son-in-law.
She was born June 10, 1919, and grew up in Clarke County. She graduated from Pachuta High School and attended William Carey College, before graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Mrs. Coalson lived and taught school in Kemper and Washington counties before settling in Biloxi in 1958. She taught in the Biloxi School System until her retirement in 1980. She was an active member of First Baptist Church of Biloxi for many years.
Survivors include a daughter, Kay Coalson Wendt and her husband, James, a grandson, Charles Norman Wendt and his wife, Kelley McCarty Wendt; a granddaughter, Gretchen Ann Wendt; and a brother, J. Hardee Kennedy; several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Norman Edgar Coalson; parents, James R. and Henrietta Kennedy; sisters, Alice Mae Walker, Adrian Dove and Gertrude Dorman; and brothers, Ferrell Kennedy and Ed Kennedy.
MARGIE MICKELSEN
CHICO, Calif. Graveside services for Margie Mickelsen will be held today at 1 p.m. at Chico Cemetery. Newton-Bracewell Chico Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Mickelsen, 84, of Chico, died Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002, at a convalescent hospital. She was born in Meridian, Miss., on Dec. 26, 1917.
Survivors include a brother, Hiram Sollie of Meridian; and an adopted son, Carl Osborne of Chico.
The family requests memorials be made to Meals on Wheels or Redeemer Lutheran Church Memorial Fund in care of Newton-Bracewell Chico Funeral Home, 680 Camellia Way Chico, CA 95926.
MARY HOPKINS BROWN
Homemaker
Graveside services for Mary Hopkins Brown will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Lockhart Cemetery with the Rev. Davey Wilkerson officiating. Barham Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Brown, 89, of Lauderdale, died Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002, at King's Daughters and Sons Rest Home.
Survivors include two sons, Jackie Brown and his wife, Betty, of Meridian, Chubby Brown and his wife, Rhonda, of Lauderdale; two daughters, Peggy Reynolds and her husband, Grover, of Theodore, Ala., Darlynn Barrie and her husband, Bob, of Poway, Calif.; nine grandchildren, Rob and Jason Barrie, Panda Carter, Ken and Scott Wilson, Mark Brown, Tracy Ingram, Paula Gant and Mike Clark; two brothers, Warnie Hopkins and his wife, Doris, of Quitman, and Jimmie Hopkins and his wife, Helen, of Slidell, La.; and 12 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack J. Brown; and a brother, Monroe Hopkins.
The family requests memorials be made to Lauderdale United Methodist Church Building Fund.
Pallbearers will be Rob Barrie, Jason Barrie, Ken Wilson, Scott Wilson, Mark Brown and Scott Ingram.
Visitation will be today 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
MATTIE MARTIN
Manager of B.C. Rogers Processing
Graveside services for Mattie Martin will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at Pentecostal Memorial Garden Cemetery with Elder Melvin Young officiating. Berry and Gardner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Ms. Martin, 51, of Meridian, died Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002, at Rush Foundation Hospital.
Survivors include a daughter, Shaunta Martin, two sons, Edwin and Kevin Martin, her mother, Annie C. Martin, and her father, Curlee Coleman Sr., all of Meridian; seven sisters, Bobbie Moore, Sandra C. Conley and her husband, Otis, all of Meridian; Mary Love of Puerto Rico, Sherrye V. Coleman of Los Angeles, Angela C. Ricks and her husband, Donald, of Phoenix, Ariz., Mertis Y. Coleman of Los Angeles and Milliscent C. Clemons and her husband, Bryan, of Meridian; two brothers, Curlee Coleman Jr. of Meridian and Eddie Dewayne Coleman of Phoenix.
Visitation will be today 7 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
KATHRYN D. LITTLE
Services for Kathryn D. Little will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Dr. David Wood officiating. Burial will be in Magnolia Cemetery with James F. Webb Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Little, 92, of Meridian, died Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2002, at Riley Hospital. Born in Prentiss, Mrs. Little was the former president of Judge Little Sporting Goods Inc. in Meridian and Jackson, a corporation founded by her late husband.
During her lifetime, Mrs. Little was involved in many areas of work and service in church, civic, business and educational endeavors. As a founder and charter member of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Meridian, she made significant contributions toward local and foreign mission work.
Locally she served as a board member and volunteer for Meals on Wheels and LOVE's Kitchen, East Mississippi State Hospital and in many other community programs. Her foreign mission work included trips to Haiti and Central America to build churches, schools and homes. She was a motivating force at her church toward sponsorship of a refugee Vietnamese family.
At Trinity, she served at the first female elder and as the first president of the Women of the Church, president of Interfaith Council of Churches in Meridian and in many positions within the district, state and Synod of Presbyterian Church (USA).
She served as head of the Red Cross campaign and was a board of trustees member of Chamberlain-Hunt Academy in Port Gibson, Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and for Friends of Meridian Community College. She was a member of the Junior Auxiliary, where she served as an active member and as a Royalty Queen.
Her interest in education led her in establishing a scholarship fund at Mississippi State University's business school in memory of her husband, a Sports Hall of Fame inductee at Mississippi State, and also a scholarship fund at Meridian Community College. Mrs. Little was a graduate of Woman's College, now William Carey, in Hattiesburg.
Survivors include three children, H. Stennis Little Jr. of Nashville, Tenn., Dr. Thomas Dale Little of Meridian and Patricia Jane Culpepper of Greenville; nine grandchildren, Dr. Richard Dale Culpepper of Huntsville, Ala., Tanza Culpepper Farr of Nashville, Kathryn Ann Little Francis of Nashville, Paul Everett Culpepper of Hickory, N.C., Thomas Dale Little Jr. and Hampton Judge Little, both of Meridian, Jane Lyle Culpepper Byars of Oxford, Michael Stennis Little of Starkville and Reginald Barton Little of Starkville; a sister, Mary Dale Wasson of Madison; and 15 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lillie and Reginald Dale; her husband, Hampton Stennis "Judge" Little; brothers, Charles Dale, Edwin Dale, James Dale, Thomas Dale; and a sister, Irene Dale Polk.
The family requests memorials be made to Trinity Presbyterian Church, Stillman College or Meridian Community College.
Pallbearers will be her grandchildren.
Visitation will be Friday one hour prior to the service at the church.