Riverwood Family Funeral Services - Obituaries (2024)

Funeral service for Rita Fay Rutland will be 2 p.m., Tuesday, August 23, at Calvary United Pentecostal Church, with burial in the Rutland Family Cemetery. Visitation is from noon until the time of service.

Mrs. Rutland, 62, of Ruth, passed from this life August 20, 2022. She was born in Tylertown, MS, July 21, 1960, to Hollis Pate Lambert and Alma Adams Lambert Greer. She was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. She enjoyed embroidery and traveling, but her favorite way to spend time was with her family. She was a member of Calvary United Pentecostal Church.

Mrs. Rutland is preceded in death by her husband, John Patrick “Pat” Rutland; daughter, Melody Nicole Travis; grandson, Austin Allen Travis; parents; Hollis and Alma Lambert; and brother, Henry Pate Lambert.

Those left to cherish her memory are her sons, Devin Rutland and Kevin Rutland; daughter, Tiffany Rushing (Jesse); sisters, Sandra Rutland (Braxton), Robyn Polk (Allen); 11 grandchildren, Nikki Martin (Cody), Alana Howard (Jeff), Dustin Travis; Danielle Buckley (Lucas), Hunter Callendar (Macie), Hannah Rayborn (Cody), Harley Rutland, Patrick Rutland, Hollis Rutland, Hazlee Rutland, Piper Rutland; five great grandchildren, and other loving family members, Phillip, Mary, Macie, and Marlee Moore and Ellis Howell.

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Funeral service for Mrs. Joyce Elaine James will be 2 p.m., Friday, September 2, 2022, at Riverwood Family, with interment in the Easthaven Cemetery. Visitation is 5-8 p.m., Thursday, September 1, at Riverwood and will resume on Friday from 1 p.m. until the time of service.

Mrs. James, 81, of Brookhaven, passed from this life August 29, 2022, at her residence. She was born in Lincoln County February 11, 1941, to James Melton Johnson and Eva Ernestine Johnson.

She was a wonderful example of the Proverbs 31 Woman, “She watches over the affairs of her householdand does not eat the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27. She was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. She loved the Lord and enjoyed being busy in activities with her faith family. She will be greatly missed by her family and all who loved her.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Tommy James; son, Darrell James; her parents; grandparents, Allen Walter and Etta Jane Martin Boyte, Edward and Evie Hemphill Johnson; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Brooks and Stella James; and sister, Lydia Faye Rowells.

Those who remain to cherish her memory are her daughters, Darlene Patterson and husband, Michael, Dana Wilkinson and husband, Jackie Jr.; brother, Don Johnson and wife, Ann; sister, Norma Griffith; five grandchildren, Chad Sanford (Colette), April Rippy (Dustin), Chasity Bourn (Blake), Kayla Wilkinson, Kolby Wilkinson; and seven great grandchildren, Taylor Cosper (Elton), Piker Ratliff, Maggie Sanford, Abby Rippy, Caleigh Bourn, Celsey Bourn, Jacob Sanford, Karly Jo Rippy, Seth Rippy; also, two sisters-in-law, Ann Russell and Nancy James. She is also survived by other loving family members and friends.

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Services for Mr. Lenox Earl “Lynn” Wactor of Meadville are 11:00 am, Saturday, August 27, 2022, at Elmo Baptist Church with visitation from 5:00-8:00 pm on Friday August 26 at the church and will resume from 9:00 am until the time of service on Saturday.

Burial will be at Midway Cemetery in Meadville.

Mr. Lenox Earl “Lynn” Wactor, 73, passed away August 23, 2022, at Franklin County Memorial Hospital.

He was born October 9, 1948, to the late Ray Earl Wactor and Catherine Myers Wactor.

Mr. Wactor was a member of Elmo Baptist Church.

He worked for Franklin County Solid Waste as an Enforcement Officer.

His hobbies were raising cattle, riding horses, deer hunting and attending livestock auctions.

Preceding him in death were his parents.

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife of 46 years, Debra Goodson Wactor; daughter, Ashley Yelverton and husband, Lee and two grandchildren, Austin Cupit, Adriana Yelverton, (Kody Moak), and great grandson, Stetson Moak.

He will be dearly missed by all that loved him.

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Private Graveside will be held at Riverwood Memorial Park.

Saylor Mae Hall will be cherished and forever held close in our hearts.She leaves behind her parents, Bobby and Emily Warren Hall;

one sister, Avery Ann Hall; and two brothers, Garrison Hall and Finn Hall; and her grandparents, JoAnn Hall, Virginia Warren, and Calvin Warren.

Truly “there is no footprint too small that it does not leave an imprint on our hearts.”

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A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, September 17, at 11:00 am with visitation from 10:00 am until the time of service.

Ms. Betty McMullen Harrington, 81, of Brookhaven, MS passed away peacefully on August 18, 2022, after several years of struggling with symptoms from dementia.

Betty Marie McMullen was born on April 25, 1941, in Brookhaven and lived much of her life here. Her family settled into a comfortable home in Brookhaven at the start of the 1940’s and the family kept the beloved home for nearly eighty years. Betty is now the last of the McMullen family to have recently lived in Brookhaven.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Carolyn Jeannette Jackson McMullen, William Lucas McMullen, and Ann Allred McMullen; her husband, James P. Harrington, Jr., her daughter, Rebekah Harrigill Barrett; her brother; Bobby G. Allred; and her great-nephew, Beauregard Jackson “Beau” Branyan. Survivors include her grandson, Cody Bruce Barrett, Jr.; her siblings, Claudia McMullen Burnett, Sylvia Allred Adamson, William L. McMullen, Jr., and G. Wayne Allred and his wife, Sylvia Smith Allred; and sixteen nieces and nephews; sixteen great-nieces and great-nephews; and eight great-great-nieces and great-great-nephews.

After graduating from Brookhaven High School, Betty attended Agnes Scott College and graduated from Millsaps College. She soon got married and moved with her spouse several times before settling in Jackson, MS, where her daughter, Rebekah, was born in 1970. She began a very accomplished career with South Central Bell and AT&T, after having helped to plan their merger.

Most of Betty’s professional career was spent advancing through progressively more responsible positions at South Central Bell and AT&T until reaching a position of Group Manager over hundreds of staff. She was responsible for developing and executing business and personal policies. But her heart most enjoyed the staff training, mentoring, and coaching activities that were parts of her responsibilities. She won numerous recognitions and awards for individual performance and excellence, as well as a Boss of the Year commendation. She concluded a very accomplished professional life when she retired to Brookhaven.

Upon arriving in Brookhaven, she was featured in the local paper’s “Know Your Neighbor” section. Its question-and-answer format revealed some aspects of Betty's true self. For her favorite sports team, she listed SEC football teams – not one team, but all of them were her favorite. For her favorite food, she answered boiled peanuts. For favorite music, gospel. If she had a million dollars, she’d use it to support the Lord’s ministries. For favorite hobbies, she listed computer graphics design and layout. This last favorite would allow her computer skills to be applied later in many of the ministries in which she was involved. Also, she used these skills to prepare many different family gifts of booklets, newsletters, etc.

Betty shared a full life with her daughter, family, and in various community activities after returning to Brookhaven. She felt in her soul the need to return to Brookhaven to allow more devotion to her daughter, Rebekah, and to help her nurture Cody with a loving and understanding ministry. For many alternating years, she would host a festive and lively family Thanksgiving gatherings, for her ever-growing extended family at her home in Brookhaven. Boiled peanuts, usually provided by Uncle Bobby, were eaten by members of the family before, during, and after the traditional Thanksgiving meal. The peanuts also went quite well with the Thanksgiving Day football games.

With retirement, she used her talents to engage in many volunteer activities, which generally were aligned with manifestations of her devout faith. While working with Truelight Ministries in Georgia, she developed and delivered a biblically-based curriculum on “Personal and Professional Growth Seminar” to nurture individuals in identifying and realizing their lifetime goals and objectives.

Betty’s professional experiences came in handy when she volunteered to become the parliamentarian of the Willing Hearts Circle. These volunteers assisted the Brookhaven King’s Daughters Hospital patients, staff, and community in a multitude of small-and-large ways, as well as to spiritually ministering among themselves.

Betty was a founding Board Member of About the Master's Business Ministry and volunteered at The Yard Sale Place for many years to help support those in need. She was actively involved and instrumental in organizing city-wide prayer groups, including the Brookhaven Prayer Partnership. This group offered prayers for families, churches, governments, education, and other community institutions and individuals.

Betty prepared a Bible study course titled “Unique by Design” to help individuals with self-reflection and knowledge for better contributing to the Lord’s mission. It offered helpful guidance to individuals who might be trying to understand their place on earth. She used these same lessons herself to help coordinate her own life and spiritual ministries. Coordination was also a theme in Betty’s attention to her attire. During the recent pandemic quarantines, even though she could go nowhere other than the assisted living facility, Betty continued to exhibit a sense of style by taking care with her appearance – no one was as coordinated as Betty with her clothes, accessories, and makeup.

Betty was enthusiastic about her involvement with Mission Mississippi of Brookhaven, where she could use her natural talents and learned skills to support a worthy cause and ministry. She worked with many other of her friends who were similarly inspired by the vision of the group, which was to work for unity among races and churches to increase the Gospel message throughout Mississippi in better understanding the message of Christ.

Betty was a longtime member of the Southway Baptist Church in Brookhaven, which she loved for how it worshipped and praised the Lord. She even moved to a house just across the street from its location so that she could more easily participate in its every function. She saw this as another way of coordinating her life and spiritual ministries. Betty was also a regular at the non‑denominational meetings of the Tuesday Morning Bible Study group at the Methodist Church.

As the disease that crippled Betty’s ability to communicate grew more disruptive in her life, she began to understand that she was slowly losing her own capabilities to do the things that she had always loved to do for the Lord’s purposes. She was living with the knowledge of what was happening to her. She had been so generous, accomplished, and caring with her time, energy, and talents. She had frustrations with these circ*mstances of her disease and prayed intensely about it. Many of her friends from different parts of her life who knew her before her disease gave her understanding with the knowledge of what Betty had been in her past, and they helped her as they could in her present. Her doctors extended extra effort in her care; banking staff provided her extra considerate and patience; caretakers attempted to fulfill her every need, even singing soothing gospels to help her feel at peace; her friends extended compassion and companionship, while not knowing if she knew who they were or what they did for her; and her family pitched in to make her as comfortable as possible.

Betty will be greatly missed but we have the assurance that she is at peace in the presence of her Precious Savior Jesus and that we will join with her again one day.

If you would like to honor Betty’s life, please consider donating to one of the charities included in the above remembrance, or give to one of your own choices, in her name.

The family thanks you for your prayers and thoughts and your important friendship and companionship to Betty. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.

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Services for Mr. Emmitt Paul Walker of Brookhaven are 2:00 pm, Monday,

August 22, 2022, at New Sight Baptist Church with burial at New Sight Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 12:00 until the time of service.

Mr. Emmitt Paul Walker, 87, passed away August 18, 2022, at his home surrounded by his family.

Mr. Walker was born on March 18, 1935, to the late Emmitt Roy Walker and Lexi Mae Allgood Walker. He was a member of New Sight Baptist Church. He was employed by Campbell 66 Express Trucking Company for 18 years; he then went to become a self-employed carpenter building many homes around Brookhaven and the surrounding areas. He was a long-time deacon of New Sight Baptist Church and served as church treasurer for 39 years. He also taught young adult Sunday School Class for many years.

Preceding him in death were his parents; and sister, Mavis Warren.

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife of 68 years, Betty Herring Walker; son, Terry Paul Walker and wife, Mickey; daughter, Tammy Walker Ezell; brothers, Danny Walker and wife, Paula, Randy Walker and wife, Rose; sisters Faye Foster and husband, Darius and Sandra Crane and husband, Jerry: and brother-in-law, Jesse Warren. He is also survived

by three grandchildren, Emilye Welch and husband, Sean, Katherine Ezell and Madeline Ezell and great granddaughter, Allie Brooke West. He will be dearly missed by all that loved him.

Memorial can be made to New Sight Baptist Church Building Fund.

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Bobby Smith, 83, of Brookhaven, MS, passed away on Thursday, August 18, 2022, at home with his family. Graveside services will be 12:30 pm, Monday, August 22, 2022, at New Sight Cemetery. Arrangements handled by Riverwood Family.

Bobby was a member of New Sight Baptist Church. He was retired from Shell Oil Company, and his Shell Oil friends were special to him. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather.

He is survived by his wife, of 63 years, Jerryann Smith; daughter, Amy Boyd; son, Brent Smith (Teresa); granddaughters, Kelsey Freeman, and Stephanie Davis (Ben); step grandchildren, Zoe and Zayden Freeman; four great-grandchildren, Lane Weeks, Maley Smith, Brody Noworyta, and Cooper Davis. Bobby is also survived by three sisters, Linda Linton, Lillian Allen, and Mildred Cuthriell; his sister-in-law, Kathy Boyd; nieces and nephews.

Bobby is preceded in death by his parents, Claude and Ethel Mae Smith; his brother, Claude Smith, Jr; and sister-in-law, Genie Robbins.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Gideons International, Processing Center, PO Box 97251, Washington, DC 20090-7251, or online at https://gideons.org/donate.

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Funeral service for Mrs. Doris Elaine Smith Farmer will be 10 a.m., Friday, August 19, at Riverwood Family, with interment in the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Cemetery. Visitation is from 5-8 p.m., Thursday, August 18, at Riverwood.

Mrs. Farmer, 75, of Brookhaven, passed away August 16, 2022, at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. She was born in Brookhaven, MS, March 12, 1947, to Hiram C. Smith and Anna Bell Hall Smith. She was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother, and will be greatly missed by all who loved her.

She is preceded in death by her husband, John E. Farmer; her parents; grandson, Kyle Farmer; and great nephew, Brayden Anthony.

Those left to cherish her memory are her children, Bobby Martin and fiancé Amy Davis, Shellie Jordan and husband, Randy, Terry Meeks and Alex Farmer and wife, Sheila; brother, Ronnie Smith and wife, Cathy; sister, Pearlean Anthony and friend Wayne Johnson; six grandchildren, Trinity Martin, Sawyer Jordan, Travis Meeks, Ty Meeks, Justin Farmer, and Jessica Farmer. She is also survived by ten great grandchildren and other loving family members and friends.

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Funeral service for Mrs. Margie “Vernice” Shirley Cook, will be 11 a.m. Friday, August 19, at Brookway Baptist Church, with interment in the Riverwood Memorial Park. Visitation is from 10 a.m. until the time of service on Friday.

Mrs. Cook, 94, passed from this life August 15, 2022. She was born in Why Not, MS, October 15, 1927, to Jesse Harmon Shirley and Nora Dunnam Shirley.

Mrs. Cook was a loving wife, mother and grandmother, even welcoming great and great, great grandchildren. She married her late husband, Jimmie, on Christmas Eve, 1945 and had 47 years together. They were blessed with four children.

She was a homemaker for many years, until taking a position as bookkeeper/receptionist. Then in later years, she worked at King’s Daughters Medical Center Gift Shop. She will be greatly missed by her loved ones and friends.

Mrs. Cook is preceded in death by her husband, James “Jimmie” Cook and son, Ronald Wayne “Ron” Cook.

She is survived by her son, Richard Cook (Cathy), of Mansura, LA; daughters, Colleen Clements (Dean) and Jimminette Phillips (David), both of Brookhaven, MS; brother, James Shirley, of Baton Rouge, MS; sisters, Delores Bennett, of Denham Springs, LA and Catherine Middleton, of Terry, MS. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, and 3 great, great grandchildren as well as other loving family members and friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice.

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Funeral service for Lillie Ann Herring Rushing will be 11 a.m., Wednesday, August 17, at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, with burial in the church cemetery. Visitation is from 5-8 p.m., Tuesday, August 16, at Riverwood Family.

Ms. Rushing, 85, of Brookhaven, passed from this life August 13, 2022, at her residence. She was born in Brookhaven, September 9, 1936, to Fred and Mae Herring. Ms. Rushing was a beautiful example of grace and held her family close to her heart. “Granny” enjoyed supporting her grandchildren

in all of their activities; she was their biggest fan.

She also loved her faith family at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church and served her Lord through her service there. She was a devoted member of the church, teaching Sunday School, acting as Sunday School Secretary, singing in the choir, and serving as WMU Leader.

“Miss Ann” was an educator for 38 years. She served as Guidance Counselor and taught Home Economics. She would often say, “teaching was not just a job, it is a calling.”

Her hobbies included traveling, sewing, cooking, and spending many hours working in her yard, planting, and caring for her flowers. She was a very creative soul and will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Amaryllis Nations; and brother, Fred Herring, Jr.

Those left to cherish her memory are her sons, Johnny Rushing and Steve Rushing (Cassandra); daughter, Lisa Covington (Gary); sister, Sue Redd; nine grandchildren, Will Rushing, Zane Rushing, Garrett Rushing (Alex), Jayden Rushing, Preslee Rushing, Anna Grace Covington, Allison Covington,

Kensy Covington, and Jessi Claire Covington; and one great grandson, Asher Rushing. She is also survived by other loving family members and friends.

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