Obituaries for Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003

By Staff
COLUMBUS Graveside services for Jack Pendleton Leigh will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at Friendship Cemetery with the Rev. Sandra DePriest officiating. Gunter &Peel Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Leigh, 80, died Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003, at Kindred Southwest Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. He was born in Meridian and was a graduate of Meridian High School. He briefly attended Mississippi State University before enlisting in the U.S. Army, where he served three years during World War II in the Pacific Theater. He was honorably discharged in January 1946. Using funding from the G.I. Bill, he earned his bachelor's degree in economics in 1949 from Washington and Lee University where he was president of the Kappa Alpha social fraternity. He also graduated with a law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1951, although he never practiced law. After law school he went to work for General Motors as a Buick Zone Manager for North Texas. He was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Waxahachie, Texas.
Survivors include two sons, John Leigh and Edmund Leigh, both of Dallas; a brother, Frank Leigh; and a sister, Virginia Leigh Cox, both of Columbus; and three grandchildren, Stephanie Mary Leigh, Robert Kenneth Leigh and Rebecca Ann Leigh, all of Southlake, Texas.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Pheobe Hipp Leigh; and his parents, Dr. Beverly Mathews and Annie Watkins Wade Leigh.
Memorial services for Ellis Fontaine Lewis will be held Monday at 6 p.m. at St. James AME Church with the Rev. Johnny Baskin Jr., officiating. Berry &Gardner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Lewis, 44, of Meridian, died Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003, at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center.
Survivors include his mother, Annie R. Lewis; two sisters, Barbara Bobbett and Virginia Lee Lewis, all of Laurel; two brothers, Kenneth Lewis and his wife, Yanette L., and Reginald D. Lewis, and his wife, Stephanie R., all of Chicago; his maternal grandmother; aunts; uncles; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father.
Services for Margie Lee Parker will be held Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2003, at 1 p.m. at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Collinsville with the Rev. W.R. Clark officiating. Burial will be in Cedar Grove Cemetery. Clark's Memorial Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Parker, 72, of Collinsville, died Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003 at her home. She was a retired employee of Mosby Packing Company.
Survivors include a son, the Rev. Richard Parker of Collinsville; a goddaughter, Diane Davis of Collinsville; a brother, the Rev. Alvin Parker of Chicago; three sisters, Mamie Lee Cole of Meridian, Lola Parker and Louise Hargis, both of Chicago; and a special soul mate, S.J. Miller of Collinsville; three stepchildren; and one great grandchild.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Arthur Parker and Mattie Sue Cole.
Visitation will be Tuesday from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. at the funeral home and one hour prior to the service at the church.
JACKSON Donald Stancel, 86, of Madison, died Friday, Nov. 21, 2003, at Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland. Mark Seepe Funeral Home &Crematorium is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Stancel was a veteran of World War II serving in both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy. A longtime resident of Meridian, he worked as a railroad conductor for Southern Railroad for 40 years. He was a 32nd degree Mason and a Shriner.
Upon retirement, he relocated to Valdosta, Ga., and was a member of Northside Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife, Lucille Kittrell Stancel of Madison; a son, Don Stancel and his wife, Gaye, of Madison; and two sisters.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Jimmie Harris Stancel; and a grandson, Mark Stancel.
The family requests memorials be made to Hospice Ministries, 450 Towne Center Blvd., Ridgeland, MS 39157.
Arrangements were incomplete at Stephens Funeral Home for Hazel Branning, 87, of Meridian, who died Saturday, Nov. 22, 2003, at The Specialty Hospital of Meridian.
NEWTON Arrangements were incomplete at James F. Webb Funeral Home for Linda Doris Mason, 52, of Lawrence, who died Saturday, Nov. 22, 2003, at Rush Foundation Hospital.