Obituaries for Friday, September 3, 2004

By Staff
Retired soil conservationist
PHILADELPHIA Services for William Clifton "Pappy" McNeil will be held today at 10 a.m. at McClain-Hays Funeral Service Chapel with the Rev. Chris Cooksey officiating. Burial will be in Mars Hill Cemetery.
Mr. McNeil, 94, of Philadelphia, died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004, at Jasper County General Hospital in Bay Springs. He was a member of the Civil Conservation Corps as a young man and retired from the Soil Conservation Service. He worked for the Mississippi Corps of Engineers, the City of Meridian, and served two terms as an election commissioner for Neshoba County.
He had tree farms and cattle interests in Clarke and Neshoba counties. He was a lifetime member of Mars Hill United Methodist Church. He was a member of the Coffadeliah Masonic Lodge No. 371 and Meridian Chapter No. 25 of the Grand York Rite Bodies of Mississippi.
Survivors include his daughter, Suzainne Montgomery of Meridian; a granddaughter, Kathryn S. Montgomery and a grandson, Donnie Montgomery and his wife, Jil, all of Philadelphia; a great-granddaughter, Skylar Posey Montgomery of Philadelphia and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Frederick Williamson McNeil.
Retired postal worker
PHILADELPHIA Services for Clarence Winstead will be held today at 3 p.m. at McClain-Hays Funeral Service Chapel with the Revs. Dennis Duvall and Chris Vowell officiating. Burial will be in Bloomfield Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Mr. Winstead, 70, of Philadelphia, died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004, at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
Survivors include his daughter, Teresa Fulton of Philadelphia; sons, Larry Winstead and Robert Winstead, both of Philadelphia; two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; a sister, Linda Kelly of Philadelphia and a brother, J.W. Winstead, of Union; and a special friend Patricia Smith of Philadelphia.
Retired Bell South foreman
MONROE, La. Services for Cameron William Phillips will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church with the Rev. Bobby Mannamplackal and Joseph Robert Inzina officiating. Burial will be in Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery. Mulhearn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Phillips, 82, of Monroe, died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004, at St. Francis Medical Center.
Survivors include his wife, Dalton Jean Phillips; sons, Cameron W. Phillips Jr. and his wife, Cindy; Robert C. Phillips and his wife, Thyra; and a daughter, Mary Massey Marton and her husband, Gary; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. or to St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy in Monroe, La.
Visitation will be today from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home with a vigil wake service at 7 p.m.
UNION Services for Maggie Jewel Rigdon will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Milling Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. James Young and Rusty Walton officiating. Burial will be in Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery. Milling Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Ms. Rigdon, 86, of Little Rock, died Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004, at Neshoba County Nursing Home in Philadelphia. She was a member of Antioch Baptist Church.
Survivors include her daughter, Hildred Ward and her husband, Gerald, of Little Rock; a granddaughter, Tonya Wilhite of Little Rock; a grandson, Richard Ward of Little Rock; great-grandchildren, Michael Wilhite and Cory Wilhite, both of Little Rock; sisters, Mae Warren and Gladys Scruggs, both of Meridian and Agnes Goux of New Orleans; brothers, Kenneth Rigdon of Collinsville and Norris Rigdon, of Center Hill and several nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers include Junior Rigdon, Al Turnipseed, Dennis Rigdon, Joey Rigdon, Tad Rigdon and Matt Rigdon.
Honorary pallbearer will be Cody Rigdon.
Visitation will be today from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
Retired physician
JACKSON Services for Dr. Lee Roy Byrd III will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Mark Seep Funeral Home Chapel.
Dr. Byrd, 59, of Jackson, died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004, at Hospice Ministries in Ridgleland. He was born on April 30, 1945 in Port Arthur, Texas and attended Southern Methodist University. He graduated from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas in 1970. After completing an internship in pathology in 1971, Dr. Byrd served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He returned to Dallas after the war and entered a surgical residency at Methodist Hospital of Dallas. As a Diplomat of the American Academy of Family Physicians and American College of Emergency Physicians, he practiced both in north Texas, and since 1991, at numerous hospitals and clinics in Jackson.
Survivors include his children, Rachel Lea Byrd of Jackson, Capt. Andrew Freeman Byrd, USMC, Corpus Christi, Texas and James Richard O'Connell Jr., of Austin, Texas; his mother, Louise Nickell Byrd of Americus, Ga.; a sister, Karen Gatewood, Americus, Ga. and a brother, Kenneth Byrd of Houston, Texas.
Memorials may be made to Grace Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 252, Canton, MS 39046.
Visitation will be Saturday two hours prior to the service at the funeral home.
SEBASTOPOL Services for Champ Morris will be held Sunday at 10 a.m. at Bogue Chitto Facility Building with the Revs. George Dixon and Calvin Gibson officiating. Burial will be in the I-Sleep Cemetery. Milling Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Morris, 77, of Philadelphia, died Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004, at Choctaw Health Center in Choctaw.
Survivors include his wife, Mary B. Morris of Philadelphia; daughters, Trudy Jimmie and Barbara Amos, both of Choctaw and Marcia Davis of Philadelphia; sons, Louie Morris, Rodell Morris, Victor Morris, Tom C. Morris, Eric Morris, Deric Morris, Jackie Morris and Terrance Kinsolving, all of Philadelphia; guardian children, Michael Morris, Lesley Morris, Joey Morris and Davita McClelland, all of Philadelphia; a sister, Mazell John of Philadelphia; brothers, Prentiss Morris of Choctaw and Chester Morris of Philadelphia; 29 grandchildren; 45 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by a daughter, Charlotte Farmer and two brothers.
Arrangements were incomplete at James F. Webb Funeral Home for Maggie Chenualt, 89, of Meridian, who died Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004, at Heartfelt Hospice.