Gwynne McFarling Daniel

Gwynne's Tupelo High School Class held its reunion in May.

Miss Katherine Rogers

One of Miss Katherine's former students at Milam posted this on the Internet.

Carole Tackett Kelly comments:
Miss Rogers, my dear fifth grade teacher, what vivid memories this photo brings back. I still remember in particular her English classes, still use the grammar rules she taught. Classmates: Ruth Delene Richardson, Sally Cunningham, Joe Crouch . . .Surely there were more than four of us.

Pictures and a Federal Law

I sometimes think there should be a federal law mandating that all pictures must have information written on the back of the picture. Carole and I have inherited a myriad of pictures from Aunt Grace, Aunt Johnnie and my mother as well as from Carole's aunt and grandmother, and many of them are pictures of folks we will never be able to identify and that's a shame.

Plantersville High School 1950-51 Graduating Class

Last week's Lee County Courier ran a picture of the 1950-51 graduating class. Included in the picture were Alvin Alred, Grady McCaskill, James Roden, Lawrence Weeks, Reed Presley, James Roy Russell, Jesse "Shorty" Davis and J. B. Berryman. The girls were Martha Kate Ellis, June Johnson, Elmonta Alred and Guillene Kelly who submitted the picture to the paper.

Since newspaper pictures are copyrighted, I can't copy it and besides newpaper pictures do not transfer well; however, if Guillene or someone would sent me a copy of the picture, I would love to post it on the blog.

Mrs. Lilyan Rogers

Carole and I express sympathy to Bubba, Rodney and Barbara on the death of their mother, Mrs. Lilyan Rogers and to all of her family as well.

Update on Laney Sims

Laney Sims, who was injured in an accident in Starkville several weeks ago, is back in the Starkville Hospital with an infection.

Laney, as most of you know, is the wife of Paul "Tip" Sims who served as interim pastor at First Baptist Plantersville between Brother Sam and Brother Danny, and Laney is Carole's first cousin.

Mississippi State Social Work Advisory Board

Her honor, Gloria Holland, is pictured in the center of the first row with other members of the Social Work Advisory Board of Mississippi State University.

Ellen and Don Wall, George and June

Winnie, Steve and Gloria

June and George

Unity Cemetery Decoration Day

I understand that the Unity Cemetery Decoration Day was yesterday. If anyone has pictures, please share them.

More From Estes

June Harris talks with Steve and Gloria Holland. Also in the picture is Ellen Wall and George Kelly.

June and her family moved to Arizona ca. 1953, a few years before the Holland family moved to Plantersville.

Saturday Night at Estes

Carole took this picture of us at Estes on Saturday night.
From left sitting: Ellen Pettigrew Wall; June Harris; Winnie Borden Ballard.
Standing: Don Wall; Willie Schumpert; Burma Ruff Schumpert, and George Kelly.

June, who lives in Texas, was in the area for the Harris reunion which was held earlier Saturday.

Heading North

Carole and I will be traveling to north Mississippi today to attend the get together tonight at
Estes. Looking forward to seeing June Harris and other friends and former classmates.

Mrs. Rebecca "Becky" Long

I would like to express sympathy to the family of Mrs. Long. I did not know Mrs. Long, but graduated from high school with her sister Jo Anne whose husband Maxie Cayson is related to me.

Saturday

Just a reminder that a number of us will be gathering at Estes Fish House in Plantersville tomorrow night starting around 6:30. June Harris is visiting the area from Texas. I hope that you will stop by to break bread with us or to visit.

Mrs. Laura McCaskill

I extend sympathy to Grady, Gerald, Sue and the other family members of Mrs. Laura McCaskill.

Laney and Margaret

Laney Sims and Margaret Pickard, Carole's sister, attended Bob Levey's memorial service Tuesday night at Holland-Harris Funeral Home.

As reported in previous post, Laney and Tip were involved in a serious accident in Starkville last Saturday. Laney's right ring finger was so badly injured that it could not be saved. Laney is in good spirits as you can tell from this picture, and she is left handed.

Steve and Tip

Paul "Tip" Sims, former interim pastor at First Baptist in Plantersville, with Steve Holland this past Tuesday night.

I've been sick this week and failed to report that last Saturday, Tip and Laney had a serious accident in a rental truck in Starkville. Tip escaped with only bruises; however, Laney was not quite so lucky, see next post.

This Week

I ran a fever Monday and was ill all week; doctor listed four or five problems that I have or, I hope, had. I was unable to drive to Tupelo for Bob Levey's memorial service Tuesday night; however, Cam and Carole did drive up Tuesday and come back Wednesday dodging thunderstorms on the way up and back.

I hope to recover enough to be in Tupelo next weekend for a get together with June and other friends and classmates.

Back to School Bash

The mayor forwarded the following:

Event: Back to School Bash
"Because we care about our community"
What: Festival
Host: Plantersville Community Center/Plantersville Youth Council
Start Time: Saturday, August 8 at 11:00am
End Time: Saturday, August 8 at 2:00pm
Where: Plantersville Community Center

Bob Levey

I just received news from Tupelo that our good friend Bob Levey died today; Bob had been in ICU for about a week.

We saw Bob almost every time we were in Tupelo; he will be missed.

August 8 at Estes

June Harris will be in the Tupelo area on August 8, and that night, a Saturday, her classmates and friends are meeting at 6:30 at Estes in Plantersville.

If you would like to join us for a meal, please let me or Burma know so we can reserve a place for you, or if you prefer just to visit, drop by any time between 6:30 and 8:00.

John Samuel Grant Jr.

Sympathy to the Grant family. John Samuel Grant, Jr.'s, obituary was in today's Jackson paper. Mr. Grant was the son of John and Dora Grant of Plantersville. Services will be Tuesday at Alta Woods United Methodist Church in Jackson with burial in Braxton, his wife's home town. Wright and Ferguson Funeral Home of Jackson is in charge.

My family and his family were close neighbors, but since he came to central Mississippi to college where he met and married his wife and then spent most of his life in Jackson, I didn't know Mr. Grant as well as I knew the other members of his family.

The Harold Towery Family

Cathy Johnson Garrett send me this picture of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Towery, Linda, Marjory and Mimi. We are not certain about the boy's name. Someone help us out.

Was this picture taken at Cecil's?

Tupelo Blog

If you have not already, you might want to visit John Nail's blog: http://intupelo.blogspot.com; John, as many of you know, is married to Mimi Towery and friends with Ken Mitchell. John has some wonderful pictures and memories of Tupelo on his blog.

Gin Accident

David Webb posted a story on the Internet about the accidental death on November 3, 1910, of James Repult, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Repult, of Plantersville killed when a smoke stack at the gin fell on him. He was manager of the Allen and Robins Gin.

Where was the gin located; Allen and Robins indicates to me that it was in Tupelo. I think at one time the Repults owned a gin. And does anyone know anything about the history of the gin located behind Plantersville Cash and Carry (Mitchell's)?

Also, was James a brother of Ernest, Earl, Herschel and Curtis?

Fire Prevention

Recently my granddaughter and some of her friends visited the Ridgeland Fire Academy to learn about fire prevention.

Nettleton High School

I recently discovered on the Internet a list of graduates of Nettleton High School from 1908 to about 1930 and found some names I knew. Miss Virginia Thomas, who graduated in 1908, taught school in Tupelo for many years. Mrs. Frankie McGaughy Burney, who was the librarian at Tupelo High School when I attended, graduated in 1910. Was she related to the Plantersville McGaughys? Mr. Roy Partlow graduated in 1918, and Mrs. Celia Sisk Williams in 1919. Wasn't she Mrs. Z. B. Williams? There was also a Charles Thomas Rogers from Plantersville who graduated in 1923.

Plantersville City Officials

Plantersville's newly elected city officials were sworn in last week.

Not certain of the order, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but from left bottom row: Renee Morris, Gloria Holland, Vicki Rigby; top row: Jack Wuichet, Sextus Shannon, Ketrick Marion.

Picture courtesy of Gloria Holland.

Rev. Crawford Ray

Thanks to Charlotte Diggs who wrote that June Coggin celebrated his 92th birthday this past June, I can now state that I visited with Rev. and Mrs. Ray in Amory in the summer of 1997. A year later, in the summer or early fall of 1998, my mother and I were walking through the cemetery in Plantersville and I saw Rev. Ray's grave. He died in July of 1998.

Mrs. J. A. Smith

My dear cousin, Sherrilyn Helms Brown informs me that Mrs. J. A. Smith was Oda, wife of Doc. Wonder how Doc Smith acquired that nickname.

Names in the Cook Book

Gwynne McFarling Daniel was kind enough to identify some of the names in the 1962 cook book. Mrs. Chester Smith was Quay Smith's mother. Mrs. Hellweg was a friend of Katherine Rogers while Mrs. Jack Bryson was the wife of Dr. Bryson in Tupelo and a friend of the Williams family. Mrs. Lurene Senter was in the catering business and prepared the reception for Gwynne's wedding. Mrs. Ray and Mrs. Godbold were wives of Methodist ministers in Plantersville. Gwynne could not identify Mrs. J. A. Smith. Thanks to Gwynne for the information.

Some years ago, as part of her job Carole did presentations to various groups, especially senior groups; I went with her to one in Amory, and Reverend and Mrs. Crawford Ray were in the audience. I don't remember the year, but they had just been to Plantersville to attend June Coggin's 80th birthday party.

Plantersville Cookbook

Some of you knew Mr. Ernest Bowen of Tupelo who recently died. His son, Bo, and Carole work together and yesterday, Bo gave us his mother's copy of A Book for Cooks published by the Methodist church of Plantersville in 1962. His mother's copy seems to have been used more than the copy we have that Carole wrote about on this blog back in October of 2006.

As I browsed through it last night, I didn't recognize some of the names and need your help. There are entries by Mrs. J. A. Smith and Mrs. Chester Smith; which one, if either, is Mrs. Doc Smith? Who was Mrs. Hellweg? Who were Mrs. Jack Bryson and Mrs. Lurene Senter? Who were Mrs. C. L. Ray and Mrs. Robert Godbold?

Who was the Methodist minister in Plantersville in 1962? I assume that one of the ladies mentioned above would be the wife of the minister. Would that be Mrs. C. L. Ray?

Cam and Carole

Cam and Carole, with George in the background, at the balloon glow and fireworks event.

What is that stuff outside?

It rained last night and is raining as I write this. The last rain we had was June 4th and that was only a trace.

The Fourth of July

We celebrated the fourth with balloons and fireworks at Ridgeland.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Beating the Heat

Here in Clinton, in central Mississippi, it hasn't rained in over a month, and it has already been the hottest summer in recent memory with the temperature being in triple digits on several days.

One way to beat the heat on the fourth is to take to the water as these two young ladies have done.

Happy Fourth of July

Plantersville Park Commissioner

Working at the Plantersville park is Jay Curry, the town's Park Commissioner.

Work Day at the Park

Renee Morris, newly elected Plantersville Alderwoman, spray washes at the Plantersville park.

I borrowed this picture and several more I will be sharing from Gloria's facebook web site.

Plantersville Fire

Today's Journal reports that a large shed belonging to Mike and Shelia Barber caught on fire yesterday morning. Smoke from the blaze could be seen as far away as downtown Tupelo. The shed contained among other things, tractors, wagons and at least one car.

Shelia is the sister of James Matthews.

I don't know my county road numbers but I think the Barber farm is located east of Plantersville. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Terri Mims Roberts

My heartfelt sympathy to Larry and Laverne Mims on the death of their daughter, Terri Mims Roberts.

Happy Father's Day

Hope all you fathers have a wonderful day even if most of us can't carry our children on our shoulders anymore.

The Ole Swimming Hole

Cathy Johnson Garrett sent this picture courtesy of Amy Jeffreys Bostick. I think it has been published before, but shows a good view of our old swimming hole at Tulip Creek.

Plantersville Fourth of July Celebration

Event: 4th of July Parade and Celebration in the Park
"The first annual!"
What: Festival
Host: Town of Plantersville Park Commission
Start Time: Saturday, July 4 at 6:00pm
End Time: Saturday, July 4 at 9:00pm
Where: Ivy Industries to Grant-Wuichet Park

Gloria Holland wrote: "I forgot to mention to bring lawn chairs, picnics if desired and the accurate phone numbers are 255-2060 and 231-5421. Volunteers and donations are also appreciated!"

Tulip Creek

Those of you in the Tupelo area probably know that Tulip Creek has been in the news the last day or so.

If I'm not mistaken, I learned to swim in Tulip Creek at the swimming hole there. I know that Cecil took pictures, but does anyone else have any pictures of the ole swimming hole. If I am recalling correctly, the water ran through rocks under a trestle and was fairly clear and someone, was it Cecil, had put up a rope to swing out over the creek on.

Cabin

My grandmother was supposedly born in this cabin somewhere in Monroe County near Smithville. According to a cousin, now deceased, who provided this picture, it was still there a few years ago.

My cousin, Rea, who was in the area last week was unsuccessful in his attempt to locate it. His grandfather was supposedly born in the cabin too.

If anyone knows anything about this cabin or knows anyone who might know anything, we would appreciate the help.

Cathy, Skip, Lucy and George

I had lunch on Tuesday with Cathy Johnson Garrett, her cousin, Skip, her friend, Lucy and her son, Benji who took the picture.

I last saw Skip in 1957 or 58 when Butch and I escorted him to a party at Brother Johnson's request. Skip lives near New Orleans.

Texas Cousins

Rea and Martha Morris stopped by Clinton for a short visit and then traveled to Tupelo where this picture was made.

Rea's grandfather and my grandmother were brother and sister. Archie, the grandfather, moved to Texas when he was a teenager. Rea doesn't remember visiting Mississippi before yesterday; however, he and his family did visit Plantersville in the summer of 1948 when Rea was four or five. I posted a picture in March on this blog of Rea and his family. I have only vague memories of that visit.

Memorial Day

We spent the holiday weekend in Tupelo. Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day.

Mr. Donald Holland

Sympathy to Steve and Mrs. Sadie and their family on the death of Steve's brother, Don.

Kindergarten Graduation

My granddaughter, Carly, lower right corner, receives her diploma from her principal during graduation ceremonies held yesterday morning at Madison Ridgeland Academy. Three of the five classes are shown in the picture.

Golden Anniversary

Someone sent this for posting:

"Golden Anniversary" is the headline in the Sunday 'Journal' followed by a photo of Leon and Jean Willis. The announcement reported that the couple will be honored for their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception Saturday, May 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Eggville Church of Christ. Hosting the celebration will be their children, Ramon Feather, Donna Willis, and Jimmy and Serena Willis, and their two grandchildren.

Jean is my cousin and was known, as were many of us, by her double name, Mary Jean, at Plantersville High School.

Congratulations to Leon and Jean.

Mr. Ted Jutman

Sympathy to Jean Jutman and her family on the death of her father, Ted Jutman. A graveside service will be held at the Plantersville Cemetery on Monday at one o'clock.

Congratulations to Linda Partlow

Linda Partlow, who coached for over twenty years at ICC, was recently inducted into the Mississippi Association of Junior and Community Colleges Sports Hall of Fame.

Linda coached tennis and softball. Her teams won nine state championships, five regionals and were runner ups five times. She was coach of the year four times and "was elected to the NJCAA Women's Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001"

Some of us are old enough to remember when a very young Linda began playing tennis at Cecil's.

During her tenure at tennis coach at ICC, her strongest competitors were usually the team from Hinds, where I taught. I kept up with Linda through our coach.

Stennis Family

Aunt Lucille was the youngest daughter; my Dad was the baby, two years younger than Aunt Cile.
She is pictured here in 1984, I believe, with her family, her son Tom and her grandchildren, their spouses and children.

From left: Aunt Cile, Ginger, her husband, Johnny, Tom Stennis, Janet, Mavis, Karen; behind Karen are Lamar and his wife.

The three children are Ginger's, I think; I know the two oldest are.
Aunt Cile died at the age of 98 in 2004. Ginger and Johnny divorced; Ginger is remarried and lives on the coast. Lamar and his family and Karen who is unmarried live on the coast also. Janet lives in Connecticut and about ten years ago adopted a son who was born in Russia.

As I wrote on this blog before, one of my cousin-in-laws, Margie, used to babysit Ginger.

Summer Day in Olde Towne

Carole won the grand prize offered by the Arts Council of Clinton which was an original watercolor painting by renown local artist, Wyatt Waters.

The painting is entitled 'Summer Day in Olde Towne.'

From the left: George Kelly, Wyatt Waters, and Carole Kelly.

Carole's comments: Isn't this a good pic taken by Charline McCord of the Arts Council? She was the one who called in early December with the thrilling news of our being the grand prize winner of Wyatt's beautiful original painting. Vicki Waters coordinated the framing process, with the frame being my Mother's Day present from George. Couldn't ask for any better . . .

Happy Mother's Day

Hope all the mothers out there have a wonderful day.

Day In the Park

Event: Plantersville Volunteer Fire Department and Youth Council Day in the Park
What: Festival
Host: Volunteer Fire Department and Youth Council
Start Time: Saturday, May 16 at 10:00am
End Time: Saturday, May 16 at 2:00pm
Where: Grant Wuichet Park

They are still accepting vendors for a minimum fee.

Report on Carl Kingsley

I spoke with my cousin, Carl Kingsley, a day or so ago, and he is doing great after his operation.

He's in remarkable shape for a man in his mid eighties.

Kelly Family Gathering

From left: Lucille Kimes Kelly, (Uncle Morris's second wife), Morris Kelly, Elizabeth Kelly Langa, Johnnie Kelly Harris, Grace Kelly Birmingham, and Steve Langa.

I don't recognize the room; it might be Elizabeth and Steve's home in Memphis.

Ladies of Plantersville

I think I recognize the room and the painting on the wall as my mother's apartment.

I am relying on a fading memory, it has been over thirty years since I last saw some of these ladies, and failing eyesight, but I believe that from the left: Halove Morgan, Vera Stovall (though I don't ever remember my mother looking so big), Grace Birmingham, Mary Bucy and Moman Partlow.

Someone correct me if I identified one wrong.

Still Life of Flowers and Cat

This still life of curled cat was taken at Aunt Grace's on September 3, 1994. The flowers are from the celebration of Aunt Grace's 100th birthday on August 31.

Aunt Grace, who can be seen through the bedroom door, became ill the night before the celebration and died two days after this picture was taken, five days past her 100th birthday.

Who Is That Blonde?

Carole with some newspaper colleagues during her blonde period.

Senator Thad Cochran and Friends

I ran into Senator Cochran one day in the Hinds Community College Library, and someone snapped this picture. The librarian in the picture is Nancy Tenhet who is still on the staff at Hinds.

One of the buildings at Hinds is named for Thad's parents.

Mother and Carole

My mother and Carole at a table laden with Christmas stuff.

Fishing

Carly, darling granddaughter, went fishing for the first time this weekend, catching one fish Saturday at her other grandmother's in Kosciusko and two yesterday in our lake.

She loves catching them, but, as you can see, prefers not to get too close to them.

First Lady and Friends

Eloise Winter, wife of William, when she was first lady of the state with Cindy and Ed Conerly and Cam Kelly.

Cindy and Ed were twins. Ed was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident when he was a sophomore in college. I saw Cindy last week at Krogers. She has two daughters.

Carole and Mrs. Winter frequent the same hairdresser.

Carl Kingsley Update

My cousin, Carl Kingsley, was operated on Thursday at the Veteran's Hospital in Memphis. I spoke with one of his daughters last night and he was doing well with a possibility of coming home this weekend.

Some of you may know Carl's daughter, Sandra, who lives in Plantersville.

Mama and Children

From left: Grace Kelly Birmingham (before she started coloring her hair black), Morris Andrew Kelly, Sarchie Kelly, Johnnie Kelly Harris and Fielden Harris.

Robert and Joyce Rogers

Brother Robert and Mrs. Joyce are retired and living in Hattiesburg.

Their most recent service was in Rota, Spain.

Robert, as most of you know, is the son of Robert Rogers and the grandson of Mrs. Willie, long time postmistress.

As I've mentioned before, since we lived directly across the road from the post office and since the post office had no running water, I saw Mrs. Willie every day, and as also mentioned she gave me my first job, taking the mail sack to the railroad and bringing the new one back.

CID

One of the most popular programs on television, and one of the few networks shows I watch now, is NCIS.

The army equivalent of NCIS is the CID; I was a member of a CID unit at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, TX, in the early '60s. We had more investigators than they seem to have on NCIS, but we did not have a fancy lab, for that matter no lab at all.

That's me on the right with two civilian employees and three other members of our unit. There were about twenty or so in our unit including two FBI agents. Because we were an investigating unit, we could choose to wear civilian clothes. Some of us didn't have enough clothes so chose to wear our uniforms most of the time.

Norman and Clara Mae Kingsley

Norman Kingsley was my mother's oldest brother who married Clara Mae Lamb. Their only child, Charles with his wife Grace, lives in Tupelo not far from Elvis' birth place.

Norman and Clara Mae lived much of their lives together in Shannon but have a Plantersville connection or two other than me and my mother. Their grandson married Ellen Rooker and for several years lived next to the Rookers in Plantersville. And some of Clara Mae's Lamb kinfolks lived in the state park area, and one of them, I think, married one of my Kelly cousins.

Wakefields?

I have several pictures apparently taken on the same day and each has that streak across the middle, either a flaw in the film or in the camera.

That is me between the Wakefields; was his name Jack?

The house being built here is the one directly across from the Baptist Church; I think Bill Martin's parents bought the house from the Wakefields, and Martha Henricks' parents purchased it from the Martins.

I hope someone can elaborate on the Wakefields.

George and His Colleagues

A very young George (how about that beard) with his Hinds Community College English Department colleagues in 1982.

Sadly three of those pictured are deceased; four are still full time faculty members at Hinds, though one is retiring after this semester, and two are still teaching part-time.

There was little turnover in our department; one of those pictured left to go to work for the state archives and one left because football coach husband accepted a head coaching position in another state. All the rest are either still there or retired.
The young man on the extreme right in Jerry Carr from Tupelo; some of you may remember his father Gale Carr who among other things developed Carr-Vista Acres subdivision.

1932-33 Jr. Class, Saltillo High School

Mother wrote the names of these students on the back of the picture; however, she wrote them in pencil which has faded with the years. Here is the best I can decipher:

Standing from left: Birdie Turner; __ Young; Garfield Bailey; Vera Kingsley; Annette Stanley; Bessie Stanley;Murdice Cole; ___ Waldrup.

Seated in chairs: Melvin Bentley; Marie Bailey; Murrell Easterling; Annie Faye Long; Murt Langston.
On the ground: Howard Lummus; Money Bolen.

If anyone has any information or corrections on any of these students, I would appreciate the assistance.

Kitty and Darryl

I published this picture of Kitty and Darryl on the blog some time ago. I know this is a tough time for Darryl and David and the children.

Kitty's grandson, David Alan, has done much research on his family and on Richmond and Unity Church. The Unity Web site linked on my site was created by David.

To all the family, you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Kitty Morgan

Sympathy to the family of Kitty Morgan. Plantersville has suffered another great loss.

I saw Kitty frequently at Estes Steak House in recent years, and, of course, saw her often growing up. As many of you know, her husband, Roy, was Raymon Stovall's nephew, and they lived close to Raymon's sister, Anna. Raymon was very close to Mrs. Anna, and we visited her every Sunday. Roy and Kitty were almost always there.

When we moved to the Jackson area in 1975, Mother often came to Jackson with Kitty when Kitty was attending to Farm Bureau business.

She was a special person and will be missed.

Kitty (center) is pictued here at the homecoming a couple of years ago with Jean Jutman and Martha Underhill.

Small World Stories

As do most people, I love small-world stories. Mavis Critz married my first cousin on the Kelly side Tom Stennis over 55 years ago, and Marjorie Pollard married my first cousin on the Kingsley side over forty years ago.

I posted a sympathy notice about Mavis's mother death last week which Marjorie read on this blog. She asked me at Sis' funeral how I knew Mavis as years ago she babysat Mavis and Tom's oldest daughter, Ginger. Marjorie lived across the street from them in West Point.

That's Ginger Stennis in the picture with her brother Lamar.

After all these years, I find out two of my cousins-in-law knew each other.

The Duke Family

Another picture of Sis and her family taken a few years later than the prior one.

From left in swing: Kellie, Nicholas, Vera, Sis holding, I think, Angela, though it could be Andrew. I'm not certain which one is the baby, someone help me out.

Standing in back: Sulema Duke, Richard Duke and Cecil Duke.

Sis, Mother and Sis' grandson

Juanita "Sis" Duke's funeral was Monday at Steve Holland's funeral home in Tupelo.

In the picture from left: Vera Stovall, Nicholas Duke, his father, Richard, and Sis.

Nicholas is now about eleven and has two sisters and one brother. Nicholas always enjoyed visiting Dick, which is what they called Mother, in Plantersville and especially enjoyed her porch swing.

Sis' daughter Lisa has three children for a total of seven grandchildren for Sis and Cecil.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone.

Today is doubly special at our house as it is also my wonderful wife's birthday.

Happy Birthday Carole.

Juanita "Sis" McKinney Duke

My dear cousin, Sis Duke, died yesterday. Please place her husband, Cecil, and her children, Richard, Cindy and Lisa as well as her daughter-in-law and son-in-law and her grandchildren in your thoughts and prayers.

As I mentioned in my post last week, Sis was like a daughter to my mother and she and Cecil were always willing to help out. When mother had her spell in 1997, I called Sis and Cecil and they were there in a few minutes and got mother to the hospital.

Sis suffered a stroke a few years ago; she was able to attend mother's funeral in June, but it was one of the last times she was able to get out. I saw her in the nursing home last week, but shortly after my visit, she was moved to a hospice.

Visitation is from 3 to 5 Easter Sunday at Harris-Holland; the funeral is Monday afternoon at 4:30.

Plantersville Girls' Basketball Team

The Lee County Courier ran this picture last week and asked for identification; I recognize Betty Sue Conlee as well as Ann and Sue Ellis, but can't help with any of the others.

I've seen this picture somewhere or one similar to it, maybe even posted it on this blog a couple of years ago.

Please help identify these girls.
Sherrilyn Helms Brown with the assistance of her mom, Frances Helms and Betty Sue Conlee Peters: "Standing left to right: Norma Jean Ellis, Sue Ellis, Joyce McWhorter, Ann Ellis, Merlene Whitehead, Betty Sue Conlee, Jean West, Helen Presley, Yvonne Raper, Jean Lann, Puddie Eason Ruff. Bottom row: Laura Sue McCaskill, Pat Rogers, Patsy Partlow, Shirley Kelly, Annie Mae Boyd. 1948-1949."

A Visit to Plantersville and Beyond

Carole and I just returned from a quick trip to Tupelo and Plantersville. I have a couple of cousins who are facing health issues and spent time with them. My cousin, Carl Kingsley, whose daughter Sandra lives in Plantersville, will be having surgery at the Veteran's Hospital in Memphis soon. And my cousin, Juanita "Sis" Duke, is in the nursing home after suffering several strokes. Her condition is not good so please add both Carl and Sis to your prayer lists.

Sis was a frequent visitor to Plantersville as she was like a daughter to my mother. She and her husband, Cecil, were invaluable to me in helping with my mother.

And speaking of assisting my mother, I visited today with Frances Helms; Aaron was off shopping. Frances has severe back problems.

Without Aaron and Frances, cousins and neighbors, and Cecil and Sis, my mother would not have been able to stay by herself as long as she did.

While in Plantersville, I noticed there is a large house under construction in those woods that were behind and beside the old Blackwell place. Butch and I played often in those woods. The area next to where the roads cross has been cleared and someone told me the house there is the old Earl Kelly house that was moved from behind the Baptist Church; can anyone confirm this?

Also, Butch's old house, the one across from Sherry's old house, has been damaged by a fire. I don't know when that occurred.

Fred Morgan's old house, I think I am correct, and Brother Johnson's old house are both for sale.

Carole Makes A Stormy Comment for April 5:
Plantersville must have been south of the awesome path of the Sunday, April 5, 1936, tornado that is such a vivid part of Tupelo history. My mother Altha J. Tackett has recalled what her Jeffreys family went through that awful night and in the weeks that followed. I have asked residents of Saltillo, Verona, Pontotoc, and other towns nearby about their hearing the news; I can't remember comments from our Plantersville Connections . . .Mother mentioned the other day that the day falls on a Sunday again. It has been quite a stormy year already with our area hearing much about Magee's destruction. Any memories?