Obituaries

Grace E. Gordon (11/07/07)
Grace E. Gordon, 80, of Piggott died Nov. 1, 2007, at the Piggott Community Hospital. She was born Jan. 20, 1927, in Piggott, and was the daughter of the late Walter William and Cecil Mae Carter Wiedeman. She was a longtime member of the First Christian Church in Piggott...

Melvin Johnson (11/07/07)
Melvin Johnson, son of the late Willis Johnson and Pearl Byrd Johnson, was born July 13, 1937, in Piggott. He died Nov. 3, 2007, at his home in Jordan, Ark., at the age of 70. Johnson was retired from the St. Louis Carpenters Union Local 2214. He worked many years for Goodwin Construction in St. Louis, constructing bridges and sewer systems...

Lena Renard (11/07/07)
Leta Renard, 80, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Piggott, died Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, at the Monticello House in Jackson, Mo. She was born June 20, 1927, in Piggott, and was the daughter of the late Harlan and Minnie Mae Holifield Kirk. She was united in marriage to Francis "Mutt" Renard on Jan. 7, 1950. The couple had two children...

Eleanor Underwood (11/07/07)
Eleanor Underwood, 100, of Piggott, died Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007, at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, in the Piggott Cemetery with Charles Cooper officiating. Hoggard & Sons Funeral Home of Piggott is in charge of the arrangements...

Ernestine L. "Shepard" Shirley, Dees (11/14/07)
Ernestine L. Dees, 88, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., formerly of Piggott, died Tuesday, Nov. 6, at her residence. She was born Nov. 2, 1919, in Kennett, to the late John Edwards and Nora Jane "Brannon" Shepard. She was united in marriage to the late James Shirley in 1942. The couple had two children. She was married to Herbert Dees in 1952 and had a very happy marriage until his death in 1982...

Bessie Ridgeway (11/14/07)
Bessie Ridgeway, 86, formerly of Piggott, died Nov. 8, 2007, in Clearwater, Fla. She was born Dec. 20, 1921, in Piggott, and was the daughter of the late Curtis and Mary Gossett Brady. She and her husband, Earl P. Ridgeway, returned to their Piggott roots, from Detroit, Mich., after their retirement in 1980. They were active members of Calvary Baptist Church in Piggott...

Eleanor Emmaline Lacy Underwood (11/14/07)
Mrs. Eleanor Emmaline Lacy Underwood of Piggott died Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007, at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell, at the age of 100 years, one month, and 27 days. Her death resulted from complications of a fall on Sept. 11, one day after her 100th birthday, in which she broke her right femur in four places...

Robert Lee Urton (11/14/07)
Robert Lee Urton, 66, of Piggott died Nov. 2 at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Nov. 15, 1940, in Indain Hills, Ohio, and was the son of Merlin Urton and Mona B. Brady Julian. He is survived by a son, Robert Urton, Jr., of Pocahontas; his mother, Mona Julian of Valparaiso, Ind.; two brothers, two sisters and many other relatives and friends...

Elsie Moore (11/21/07)
Elsie Moore, 89, of Poplar Bluff, died Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Ms. Moore was born March 7, 1918, in Clarkton, to Charles Thomas and Sybil King Dickerson. She was a member of Langley Methodist Church, but attended Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Harviell after moving to Poplar Bluff. She was a nursing assistant at Children's Hospital in St. Louis, prior to her retirement in 1971...

Erma Nell Parker (11/21/07)
Erma Nell Parker, 80, of Piggott, died Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, in the Piggott Community Hospital. She was born March 2, 1927, in Holcomb, and was the daughter of the late William and Anna Johnson Byrd. She was united in marriage to Robert W. Parker on Oct. 8, 1949. The couple had one daughter...

Halcyon Bartleson (11/28/07)
Halcyon Bartleson, 96, of Poplar Bluff, formerly of Piggott, died Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, 2007, in the Westwood Hills Health Care Center in Poplar Bluff. She was born April 3, 1911, the daughter of the late James Ralph and Margaret Osmon Myers. She was united in marriage to H. Blair Bartleson on Aug. 19, 1932. The couple had three sons...

Jewell Isabelle White (11/28/07)
Jewell Isabelle White, 92, of Pollard, died Nov. 18, 2007, at Piggott. She was born to Freeman and Ethel Adams Byrd on Oct. 11, 1915, in White Oak, Mo. On Sept. 23, 1939, she was united in marriage to Fain White. The couple had three children. She was a member of New Hope Baptist Church in Pollard...

Paul William Johnson (11/28/07)
Paul William Johnson, 77, of Piggott, died Friday, Nov. 23, 2007, at the University Medical Center in Little Rock. He was born May 17, 1930, in Canastota, N.Y., the son of the late Paul Willliam and Gertrude VanDusen Johnson. He was united in marriage to Wilma Brown on Sept. 4, 1982...

Zachary Clay Walker (11/28/07)
Zachary Clay Walker, 6 day old son of Clinton and Tina Meadows Walker of Piggott passed away Wednesday, November 21, 2007, in the St. Johns Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis. He was preceded in death by his paternal and maternal grandparents. He is survived by his parents, Clinton and Tina Walker of Piggott; two sisters, Danielle Cook and Stephany Meadows; two brothers, Dirrick and Dustin Walker, and other relatives and friends...

Sylvia Purdom (11/28/07)
Sylvia R. Purdom, 82, died Oct. 29, 2007, in Toledo, Ohio. She was born to Corbett and Della (Rodden) Purdom on Jan. 23, 1925, in Clay County. She worked in Michigan in the auto parts industry for many years and at Georgia Pacific Plywood in Toledo. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Toledo...

William Clifford Holifield (11/28/07)
William Clifford (Bo) Holifield of Mountain Home, died November 27 2007. He was born November 10th, 1920. He is survived by his wife Shirley Holifield and four children, Larry Harmon, Jerry Harmon, Renee Aubuchon, and Peggie Martin; nine grandchildren, and fifteen great grandchildren...