Erma Sadler Evans died Sunday, April 4, 2010, at River Region Medical Center. She was 79.

Born in Vicksburg, Mrs. Evans was the daughter of the late Frank Sadler and Della Brown Sadler. She was a graduate of Redwood High School and the Mercy Hospital-Street Memorial nursing program, where she received her registered nurse degree.

She retired from the Mercy Regional Medical Center with 30 years of service as a registered nurse.

Mrs. Evans was a member of the Vicksburg Chapter of the Red Carpet Sam Camping Club and Immanuel Baptist Church, where she was active in many of the church programs.

She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Max E. Evans; two daughters, Evelyn L. Jones of Vicksburg and Nancy D. Goldman and her husband, Robert, of Wesson; two sons, Max E. Evans Jr. of Forest and Gregory K. Evans and his wife, Jo, of Vicksburg; 10 grandchildren, Josh Evans, Jessica Cockroft, Brannon Jones, Taylor Jones, Paula Kirby, Chad Gordy, Krystal Evans, Keith Evans, Katie Safley and Jon Robert Goldman; eight great-grandchildren; two sisters, Dorothy Barfield of Addison, Texas, and Mildred Pugh and her husband, Kim, of Woodbury, Tenn.; and a brother, Frank Sadler Jr. and his wife, Norma, of DeRidder, La.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Jean Anderson; and a brother, Clint Sadler.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Riles Funeral Home with the Rev. Billy Brumfield, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will be at Cedar Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. Wednesday until the hour of the service.

Pallbearers will be Brannon Jones, Taylor Jones, Jon Robert Goldman, Matt Safley, Chad Gordy and Josh Evans.

Honorary pallbearers will be deacons of Immanuel Baptist Church.

Memorials may be made to Immanuel Baptist Church, 6949 U.S. 61 South, Vicksburg, MS 39180.

Harl "J. R." Harden Jr. was born in October 8, 1930 in Fair Oaks, AR. He was the son of Harl and Alice Robinson Harden Sr. His siblings were Bobbye Joyce (Wells) and Patricia Ann Harden (Barker). He was a graduate of Redwood High School and was active in sports.

J. R. married Joyce Elaine Ray on June 22, 1951 in San Francisco, CA. Joyce was born April 29, 1932 in Vicksburg, MS. They were married while J. R. was in the US Navy and stationed in California. They married before he shipped out to Japan.

Harl (J.R.) and Joyce had 3 children: Michael Ray Harden born November 23, 195, in Vicksburg, MS. Michael lives in Clinton, MS. Steve Wayne Harden, born May 11, 1956, in Vicksburg, MS, died August 4, 2011, in Vicksburg, MS, of respiratory failure, buried at Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery in Vicksburg, MS, beside his father. (No children, unmarried at time of death) Robert Lawrence Harden, born September 7, 1964, in Vicksburg, MS, of acute cardiorespiratory failure, buried at Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery in Vicksburg, MS, beside his farther. (Never married)

J. R. died February 9, 1985 in Vicksburg, MS, of massive heart attack. He is buried at Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery, Vicksburg, MS.

Joyce Elaine Ray Harden, 87, passed away at Riggs Manor in Raymond, Mississippi, on December 26, 2019.

She was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to John Wesley Ray, Sr. and Minnie Grace McNair Ray and lived in Vicksburg over 80 years. John and Minnie are buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Vicksburg, beside their daughter (Helen Grace), who died in a fire. Joyce also had a brother John (Sonny) Ray, Jr. She graduated from St. Francis in 1950 and had a special lifelong bond with many friends from the “Sister School.” She retired from Waterways Experiment Station in 1995 with 28 years of Federal service. She was a member of First Baptist Church, Vicksburg, and enjoyed volunteer work at the Salvation Army and River Region Hospital. With her sweet and caring spirit, even in the final stages of Alzheimer's, she entertained and showed kindness to the residents at Riggs and her caregivers.

Joyce died at Riggs Manor at Raymond, MS on December 26th, 2019. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Harl (J.R.) Harden, Jr., her sons Steve and Robby (Bay) Harden, her brother John (Sonny) Ray, Jr., and her sister Helen Ray. She is survived by her son Michael Harden (Sharon) of Clinton, MS; grandchildren John Harden (Grace) and Rebecca Wilkerson (Mike); four great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Pat Barker; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the staffs of Riggs Manor and Compassus Hospice who cared for our “Mamoo” with such compassion and love.

Visitation will be Thursday, January 2, 2019, from 1:00 - 2:30 pm at Glenwood Funeral Home in Vicksburg with the service, officiated by Dr. Matt Buckles, to follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, Vicksburg or the local Salvation Army.

Vera Oser Barker died Saturday, April 4, 1992, at Delta Medical Center in Greenville, MS. She was 60.

Mrs. Barker was born in Vicksburg and had lived in Indianola for 20 years. She was employed as a bookkeeper for Mississippi Valley Gas for 20 years. She was a member of the Second Baptist Church in Indianola.

Survivors include her husband Marvin Barker of Vicksburg: two sons, David Brent Barker of Luling, Texas, and Joe Barker Sr. of Fort Worth, Texas: four sisters, Betty Scallions and Audrey Muirhead, both of Vicksburg, and Patricia Hutchinson and Autherine Hastings, both of Luling; and three grandchildren.

Services will be 10 a. m. Tuesday at Glenwood Chapel with the Rev. Gary Burkacki. Burial willl follow at Antioch Cemetery in Vicksburg.

Pallbearers will be J. M. Tidwell, Bud Shiers, Roy Stubbs, Bud Martin, Rudy Paine and Bobby Rains. Honorary pallbearers will be deacons of the Second Baptist Church.

Memorials may be made o the American Cancer Society.

James Max Barnett Jr. died Friday, May 3, 2013, at Sharkey-Issaquena Hospital in Rolling Fork. He was 83.

Mr. Barnett was a native of Goodman, grew up in Valley Park and lived in Cary. He served in the U.S. Air Force and retired from Southern Natural Gas after 43 years. He was a member of Deer Creek Baptist Church in Rolling Fork. He was preceded in death by his wife, Birdie Clements Barnett; a sister, Frances Cortright; and a brother, Guy Barnett.

Survivors include a son, Bo Barnett of Vicksburg; four daughters, Brenda Stigall of Delta City, Kathy Horton of Escatawpa, and Carol Williams and Terri Harden, both of Rolling Fork; a brother, Milton Barnett of Vicksburg; a sister, Jo Jones of Summerville, Fla.; thirtenn grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Deer Creek Baptist Church with the Rev. Clyde Pullen officiating. Burial will follow at Mound Cemetery in Rolling Fork under the direction of Glenwood Funeral Home. Visitation will be Monday at the church from 1 p.m. until the service.

Pallbearers will be Thomas Stigall, Brad Williams, Jamie Barnett, Dylan Barnett, Jason Harden and Aaron Pullen.

Honorary pallbearers will be Clint Gee, Marty Stuart, Chris Hamlin, Scotty Callihan, Guy Barnett and Mike Barnett.

Funeral services were held at on Monday, September 10, 2012, at Calvary Cemetery in Algona, Reverend Mr. William Black officiated.

Claudia June Schneider was born June 27, 1930, in Natchez, Mississippi, the daughter of Granville and Florence McCrary Hannah. She grew up in Mississippi where she also attended school. June later met her future husband, Charles, while he was in Mississippi serving in the United States Army.

June was united in marriage to Charles Schneider in Algona, Iowa. The couple lived in Algona where June worked as a ward clerk at St. Anne's Hospital in Algona for many years. She was a member of St. Cecelia Parish. Following Charles' death in 2008, June moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, to be closer to family, where she was cared for by her sister and a niece.

June died Tuesday, September 4, 2012, at her residence in Shreveport, Louisiana. She was 82.

June is survived by her two sisters and one brother-in-law; two brothers; and nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Charles Schneider on February 4, 2008; sisters, Eilene and Rachel Hannah; brothers, Richard, Rudolph and Billy Hannah.

Spouse: Charles Henry Schneider (1930-2008)

Burial:
Calvary Cemetery
Algona, Kossuth County, Iowa, USA

Harold Franklin Oakes, 87, of Albemarle passed away on September 10th, 2017. Mr. Oakes was born on February 13, 1930 in Vicksburg, MS. He was retired from the US Army and from Cannon Mills.

He served as the commander at the VFW Post 2908 in Albemarle. He attended Anderson Grove Baptist Church in Albemarle. He was preceded by his wife, Doris Oakes, son Roy Woods, sister Laverne Oakes Jernigan and brother J.C. Oakes.

Harold is survived by his three sons Chric McMullins and Scott Oakes of Marshall, TX and Jody Oakes of Louisiana, five daughters Debra Rothrock and Donald of New London, Jean Keller of Irving, TX, Gina Meador of Big Sandy, TX, Tracey Oakes of Dothan, AL and Diane Oakes. A daughter in law Phyllis Woods of Albemarle, one sister Laura Peterson of Rome, GA and one brother Norman Oakes of Pell City, AL and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. The visitation will be from 9:00am – 10:00am on Thursday, September 14th, 2017 at Haven Lutheran Church Fellowship Building.

The memorial service will be at 10:00 am on Thursday, September 14th, 2017 at Haven Lutheran Church Fellowship Service 207 West Harrison St Salisbury, NC 28144 with the burial to follow at the Salisbury National Cemetery and military honors will be accorded by the Lyerly Funeral Home Volunteer Honor Guard. In Lieu of flowers, contributions can be made at your local DAV chapter.

Shirley Parker Callen died May 16, 2001 in Jackson, MS. She was 79.

Born December 18, 1931 in Warren County, MS, she was the daughter of Mulford Homer “Mutt” (1905-71) and Lucille Gladys (1909-) Parker. The Parkers managed a retail grocery store. Shirley graduated from Redwood High School in 1949. Shirley had a sister Klare born 1943. While in high school, Shirley was a piano student of Shelby Booth. Shelby was a music teacher at Redwood and taught many students in the Vicksburg area. Richard Sadler kindly provided some pictures of Shirley and one of her recital programs included at the end of this biography.

She attended Millsaps College in Jackson, earning an AB in English in 1953. She enrolled in Tulane University for graduate work where she received a MA in 1954 and a PhD in 1962. Her thesis entitled, “Bergsonian Dynamism in the Writings of William Faulkner”, attracted world-wide attention. One author wrote, “ Several interesting dissertations were written on Faulkner and Bergson after Abel’s and Slatoff’s work appeared. Shirley Parker Callen’s ‘Bergsonian Dynamism in the Writings of William Faulkner (1962) interprets Faulkner’s novels as at base a rejection of conceptualization. She divides the characters into those who endure by maintaining contact with real duration and those (the great mass) who are guilty of using ‘adopted concepts.’” Another wrote, “If Sartre sees Faulkner as having 'decapitated' time, the Bergsonian reading must claim just the opposite. Shirley Parker Callen, for example, insists that, ‘Both Faulkner and Bergson consider change the universal principle of reality, and life itself as a ceaseless flow of reality.’" Her thesis was supervised by Professor Richard. P. Adams.

In 1964, Shirley joined the Centenary College in Shreveport becoming Associate Professor of English. She later became an Associate Professor of English at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS.

Shirley was probably the first Redwood High School graduate to receive a PhD.

Shirley married J. M. Callen and they had a daughter Susan Marie born February 1961.

Millsaps Yearbook 1951. Second row from bottom.

Shirley Parker, Chi Delta, Creative writing honorary society for women. Fourth from left. 1953. In 1957 she is listed as a Faculty Advisor to this organization.

Shirley Parker in Purple-White, Millsaps 1953, Front row, second from left.

Shirley Parker in graduate school at Tulane University, 1954.

Shirley Parker Callen, Centenary College Yearbook, Yoncopin. 1966

Shirley Parker Callen, Centenary College Yearbook, Yoncopin. 1966

From the Millsaps’ Yearbook, Bobashela, 1968

Shirley in dress likely worn at 1949 piano recital.

Shelby Preston Keefe Booth Martin (1913-2008) was music teacher at Redwood High School in 1946. Shelby was the daughter of Edward E. & Margaret Preston Keefe. She married Barrett L. Booth from New Orleans who worked for the Army Corps of Engineers. They had a son, Barrett Lawrence Booth Jr., born July 4, 1935. She attended Arlington Hall¹ and Chicago Music College². In 1955 she married John Martin in Vicksburg. Full obituary at More...

¹ "Arlington Hall" was founded in 1927 as a private girls school in Arlington, Virginia, which, by 1941, resided on a 100-acre (0.40 km2) campus and had acquired the name Arlington Hall1. The school suffered financial problems in the 1930s, and eventually became a non-profit institution in 1940. On June 10, 1942, the U. S. Army took possession of the facility under the War Powers Act for use by its Signals Intelligence Service.

² Chicago Musical College
Founding:
Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld, Sr. (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as The Chicago Academy of Music. The institution has endured without interruption for one hundred and forty-five years. Ziegfeld was the father of Florenz Jr., the Broadway impresario. The Academy was credited as being the fourth conservatory in America. In 1871, the conservatory moved to a new building which was destroyed only a few weeks later by the Great Chicago Fire; despite the conflagration, the college was again up and running by the end of the year. In 1872, the school changed its name to Chicago Musical College (CMC); over 900 students were enrolled in that year. A Normal Teachers' Institute was added to the school's offerings. Tuition in those was an average of one dollar per lesson. Four years later, the State of Illinois accredited the college as a degree-granting institution of higher learning. A Preparatory Division was opened which established branches throughout the city.

Rudolph Ranz joined CMC's faculty in 1900 and, except for a brief hiatus in the 1920s, remained associated with the school until his death in 1972. In 1917, CMC offered a Master of Music Degree, and seven years later the school became a charter member of the National Association of Schools of Music.

By 1925, the college moved into its own eleven-story building, Steinway Hall at 64 E. Van Buren Street. One hundred and twenty-five names appeared on the faculty roster for that year, and the school opened three dormitory floors for students. In 1936, CMC was admitted as a full member to the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the only independent music college in the Midwest to enjoy such status. By 1947, the college was offering doctorates in Fine Arts and Music Education.

Polly Davidson Collins went to be with the Lord on September 11, 2024, at her home. Polly was born on October 17, 1931, to Murrie and Lucy Pettway Davidson. After her mother’s death, at the young age of one, Polly was raised by Virgil and Margie King Davidson until their passing. Polly was left to raise herself at the age of 16. She attended school at Redwood High School, where she was a class beauty, and worked at a local cleaners on Cherry Street. During the 1950’s, Polly met the love of her life, James Gray “Mike” Collins when he would volunteer to referee basketball games at a local high school. They continued their courtship when Mike would come to Vicksburg to go to his Army Reserve meetings. After graduation, she moved to Rolling Fork and began a career with the MS Forestry Commission at East Prong for several years. She then began working as Church Secretary at First Baptist Church in Rolling Fork where she remained a member until her passing.

She married the love of her life, James Gray “Mike” Collins on September 18, 1955. They made a loving home and welcomed the birth of their daughter Sharon in 1960. Several years later they became foster parents to another daughter Kaye. Both daughters were raised with love, compassion, and as Christians.

As Polly and Mike grew older, they spent their time traveling with friends and Family and following their grandchildren to their sporting and dancing events across the state. She also loved attending Mississippi State ballgames with her family. Polly continued the tradition of going to see her grandchildren play after Mike’s death. The Lord and her family were her priorities. She also volunteered with the Pink Ladies at River Region Hospital in Vicksburg for several years.

She is survived by daughters Sharon Bass (John), Kaye Stuart (Morris); grandchildren Phillip Bass (Rachael), Heather Ford (Michael), Kyle Bass (Katie), and Garret Stuart; great grandchildren Blake, Parker, and Rosemary Bass, Bo and Jesse Ford; sister Betty Stout, and special family friend Barbara Woods.

Active pall bearers are John Bass, Morris Stuart, Phillip Bass, Kyle Bass, Garret Stuart, and Michael Ford.

Services will be held at 2:00 pm, Wednesday September 18, 2024, at First Baptist Church in Rolling Fork, MS with the burial following at Mound Cemetery in Rolling Fork.

Donations may be made in her honor to the First Baptist Church, Rolling Fork, MS.