Obituaries for Thursday, May 22, 2003

By Staff
J.C. Penney Company employee
Services for Polly Hooks will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Mt. Olive Baptist Church on 49th Avenue with the Rev. Dr. Zachary Operton officiating. Burial will be in Okatibee Cemetery. Berry and Gardner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Hooks, 49, of Meridian, died Friday, May 16, 2003, at the University Medical Center in Jackson. She graduated from the Meridian Public Schools and attended Neely Business College and Meridian Junior College now Meridian Community College. She worked as the personnel and training manager for more than 27 years at J.C. Penney.
She accepted Christ as her personal savior and was baptized into the fellowship of Okatibee Missionary Baptist Church. She later joined Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband, Bobby L. Hooks; son, Kevin T. Dubose; daughter, Brittany L. Hooks; sisters, Gloria Hardy of Yonkers, N.Y., Holly Dubose-Conley of Birmingham, Ala. and Wilhemina Bloodsaw of Walnut Grove; a brother-in-law, Malcolm Hardy of Yonkers, N.Y. an uncle, Charlie Dubose; aunts, Evia Whitlock of Meridian, and Everlina Burns and her husband, Jimmy, of Chicago; and several nieces, nephews, cousins, adopted mother, Ruth Jackson and special friends, Alice Manuel, Mary Ann Wade, Eunice Dillard, Tijuana Griffin, and Pamela Smith; a godson, JaCaleb Smith, and neighbors and her J.C. Penney employees family.
Visitation will be Friday, 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. at the funeral home.
Retired cook at Rush Foundation Hospital
Services for Annie Matt Johnson Morton will be held today at 11 a.m. at Enterprise Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Jimmy Johnson officiating. Burial will be in Good Hope Cemetery in Russell.
Mrs. Morton, 88, of Meridian, died Sunday, May 18, 2003, at Riley Hospital.
Survivors include her son, Cecil Morton Jr. and his wife, Dinah, of Meridian; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Cecil Morton Sr.; her parents and 18 brothers and sisters.
Lauderdale County employee
Services for William Ray Abston will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at James F. Webb Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. Sundra Girard and Melvin Boles officiating. Burial will be in Archusa Cemetery.
Mr. Abston, 71, of Meridian, died Wednesday, May 21, 2003.
Survivors include his wife, Alma Cooper Abston; a daughter, Penny Thrash and her husband, David; grandchildren, Wesley Thrash, Joshua Thrash, Brittney Thrash; great-grandchildren, Michael Kade Thrash, Michael Scott Wood Jr.; and a brother, Thomas Abston and his wife, Willodean.
Visitation will be today 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
Homemaker
Services for Faye Ellen Harper will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at Barham Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. Travis McManus and Frank Dodson officiating. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Mrs. Harper, 58, of Dalewood, died Wednesday, May 21, 2003, in her home.
Survivors include her husband, Talmadge Harper of Dalewood; daughters, Tina Thompson of Panama City, Fla., Karen Odom and her husband Greg Kelso, and Tracy White and her husband, Thomas, all of Dalewood; step-father, Bill Jackson of Dalewood; brother, David Jackson of Meridian; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Stella Marie Jackson, her father, Mennon Whittington and a brother, Bobby Eugene Whittington.
Pallbearers will be James Stanton, Eric Odom, Jeremy Odom, Jamie Stanton, Thomas White, and Brad Whittington.
Visitation will be today 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.