Huge Marriages Search Engine!
Smith
Services for Jeremiah Smith Sr., 67, of Anniston will be today at 2 p.m. at Triumph Church of the Kingdom with G.W. Washington officiating. Burial will be in Eden Hills Cemetery with Ervin Funeral Chapel in charge. The body will be at the church an hour prior to services.
Mr. Smith died Jan. 5 at Regional Medical Center.
Survivors include three daughters, Lillie Smith, Bridgette Smith and Jovita Carr; two sons, Jeremiah Smith Jr. and Lee Smith; four sisters, Deborah Morris, Elizabeth Edwards, Mary Drewitt and Ruth Mims; a brother, Andrew Smith; and 10 grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be nephews.
January 12, 2002 (Announced date)
Watts
TALLADEGA
Services for Robert Earl Watts, 69, of Talladega will be Sunday at 2 p.m. at Usrey Funeral Home with Rev. Charlie Bolt officiating. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery. The family will receive friends 6-8 tonight at the funeral home.
Mr. Watts died Thursday at his home.
Survivors include his wife, Mae Watts of Talladega; a daughter, Melissa Jean Watts of Clanton; a son, Lt. Col. Timothy Earl Watts of Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; three sisters, Lula Mae Dodson of Sylacauga, and Mary L. Haynes and Johnnie Dean Anderson, both of Talladega; and two brothers, Lonnie E. Watts Jr. of Talladega and Jack Thomas Watts of Bayou La Batrie.
Pallbearers will be Curtis Baxter, Lamar Edwards, Jerry Carlton, Louie Carlton, Sammy Dodson and Bobby Dodson.
Mr. Watts was a native and lifelong resident of Talladega. He was a member of Cherry Street Church of God and was retired from Anniston Army Depot. He was a member of the Gospel Travelers Quartet. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lonnie Eugene Watts and Frankie Mae Watts; and a sister, Betty Anne Henley.
January 12, 2002 (Announced date)
Whorton
PIEDMONT
Services for Ruth Whorton, 91, of Piedmont will be announced by Thompson Funeral Home. The family will receive friends 6-8 tonight at the funeral home.
Mrs. Whorton died Friday at Piedmont Health Care Center.
January 12, 2002 (Announced date)
Alexander
DELTA
Services for Charles Alexander, 65, of Delta will be announced by Benefield Funeral Home in Lineville.
Mr. Alexander died Saturday.
January 13, 2002 (Announced date)
Birdsall
SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn.
Services for Norval Stanley Birdsall, 73, of South Pittsburg, Tenn., will be announced by Miller Funeral Home.
Mr. Birdsall died Saturday in South Pittsburg, Tenn.
January 13, 2002 (Announced date)
Butler
SAND ROCK
Services for Aubrey Butler, 77, of Sand Rock will be announced by Perry Funeral Home.
Mr. Butler died Saturday at his home.
January 13, 2002 (Announced date)
Cobb
Services for Jot Wilburn Cobb Jr., 85, of Anniston will be today at noon at Gray Brown Service Chapel with Rev. Stanley Owen officiating. Burial will be in Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery.
Mr. Cobb died Saturday at his home.
Survivors include his brother, Marvin Cobb of Oxford; his son, David Lamar Cobb of Huntsville; two daughters, Loretta Bonner of Anniston and Carolyn McCreeth of Oxford; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Mr. Cobb was a native and lifelong resident of Calhoun County and was retired from the U.S. Forestry Service. He served as choir director and a deacon of Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church for many years. He was also a veteran of World War II.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ellen Brown Cobb.
The family will accept flowers or memorials may be made to the Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery Fund C/O Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, 8794 Choccolocco Road, Anniston, AL 36207.
Daffron
Services for Sylvia G. Daffron, 58, of Anniston will be announced by Brown & Kughn Memorial Chapel. Mrs. Daffron died Saturday at Regional Medical Center.
January 13, 2002 (Announced date)
Howard
BIRMINGHAM
Mrs. Irona Curtis Howard, 84, of Birmingham died Saturday at HealthSouth Medical Center.
The family will receive friends 11-1 p.m. Monday at Usrey Funeral Home in Birmingham.
Survivors include several nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be C.D. Chappell and several nephews.
Mrs. Howard was a native of Shelby County and a resident of Talladega most of her life. She attended West End Church of God. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dillard Howard; a stepson Billy Howard; five brothers, Willie Howard, Tommie Howard, John Marion, Alan and Urmon Curtis; and a sister, Roberta Curtis White.
January 13, 2002 (Announced date)
McCord
HEFLIN
Services for Shirley Jean McCord, 66, of Heflin will be Monday at 1 p.m. at Smyrna Baptist Church. Visitation will be 6-8 tonight.
Mrs. McCord died Saturday at her home. Complete funeral arrangements will be announced by Dryden Funeral Home of Heflin.
January 13, 2002 (Announced date)
Murray
BIRMINGHAM
Services for Willie Murray, 95, of Birmingham will be announced by the Ervin Funeral Chapel.
Mr. Murray died Saturday at his home.
January 13, 2002 (Announced date)
Whorton
PIEDMONT
Services for Ruth Whorton, 91, of Piedmont will be today at 2 p.m. at Thompson Funeral Home with Revs. J.D. Whorton and Jerry Dyer officiating. Burial will be in Philadelphia Baptist Church Cemetery.
Mrs. Whorton died Friday at Piedmont Health Care Center.
Survivors include three daughters and a son-in-law, Lillian Grissom, Ella Mae McFry, both of Piedmont, and Glenda and Richard Rhinehart of Rome, Ga.; three sons and two daughters-in-law, Hoyt and Bobbie Whorton of Jacksonville, Jack and Geraldine Whorton and Herman Whorton, all of Piedmont; 23 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be Bobby Whorton, Randall Whorton, Dennis Whorton, Joseph McCurdy, Darrin Whorton and Phillip McCurdy.
Mrs. Whorton was a native and life-long resident of the Piedmont area. She was also a member of the Philadelphia Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank Whorton; a son, Burr Whorton; and two grandsons, Jeff McFry and Perry McFry.
January 13, 2002 (Announced date)
Rev. Oscar B. Cotton
Loving, caring, honest, spiritual.
No matter who you talk to, the answer is the same. Friends say the Rev. Oscar B. Cotton, 75, of Oxford, was the kind of man others try to emulate.
"He was the kind of man I would like to be," said Oxford councilman Johnny Bentley. "I've known him my whole life, and the greatest gift he gave me was to be my friend."
Services for Rev. Cotton will be Monday at 1 p.m. at the Chapel of Miller Funeral Home with Revs. Walker Dean, Joe Harris, Tommy Burke, John Childs and Jerry Starling officiating. Burial will follow in the Forestlawn Gardens and Mausoleum Cemetery. The family will receive friends 1-9 tonight.
Rev. Cotton died Friday at his home.
A lifelong resident of Calhoun County, Rev. Cotton was the owner and operator of Cotton Furniture Company for the past 27 years. He was a member of the Oxford Lions Club and the Cheaha Vintage Car Club where he served as Chaplain. He also served on the board of directors for the BB & T Bank.
Yet, many people may know him better for the more than 50 years of preaching at eight area churches, including his time as pastor of Corinth Baptist Church in Randolph County, where he served for 31 years.
Oxford Mayor Leon Smith, who had known Rev. Cotton for more than 30 years and lived in his neighborhood, said Rev. Cotton was one of the kindest men he knew.
"He's the type that would always try to take care of you someway, somehow if you were in a jam," Smith said. "It's a great loss to our community and to our city."
Rev. Cotton grew up in Calhoun County and attended Lincoln High School where he was known on the football field as "The Big Pelican."
Laughing, his wife, Henri Lynn Cotton, said she wasn't sure what the story behind that nickname was, but remembered that his brother was known as "The Little Pelican," too.
After graduating from high school, Rev. Cotton joined the Navy during World War II and married Mrs. Cotton when he returned home.
For several years, Rev. Cotton worked at the Anniston Army Depot. One day, according to his daughter, Nancy Burnell, after listening to a preacher at lunch, Rev. Cotton realized that God was calling him to change his life and become a preacher.
Starting in the early 1950s, Rev. Cotton began speaking the word of God. Since then, he has served at Ohatchee Baptist, Antioch Baptist, Chulafinnee Baptist, Pleasant Hill Baptist, Calvary Baptist, White Plains Baptist and Spring Garden Baptist.
While still preaching, Rev. Cotton purchased a furniture store and started the Cotton Furniture Company, which he ran for 27 years.
Rev. Cotton also was one of the founding directors of Independent Bank of Oxford, which later became Century South Bank, and is now known as BB &T. He was a member on BB &T's board of directors.
Collecting old cars, coins and knives were other hobbies for Rev. Cotton. In particular, he loved to drive around town in a 1935 Auburn Roadster.
"We used to have a great time taking trips and riding around together," said Sam Walker, a friend who had known Rev. Cotton for 61 years. "I remember when he got that car. We were at a car show and were separated. He came up to me and said, 'Sam, the prettiest car I ever saw just came into the lot.' So we must have walked about a half mile to see it, but there it was and I said I thought it was the prettiest car I've ever seen too. So he bought it."
Councilman Bentley said he remembers seeing Rev. Cotton and Walker go flying by many days in that car.
"I remember yelling out to him, 'Yeah, you had those ears laid back didn't you, Oscar,' and he'd smile. That thing had to be about 30 feet long," Bentley said.
What is not as well known is the poems and songs Rev. Cotton began writing when he got sick. His daughter, Mrs. Burnell said she remembers how he said important it was for him to write down his feelings and emotions.
"Sometimes he would wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. to write," she said. "I told him I would type them, but as a surprise gift I took them to a print shop and had them published. I put a design of a vineyard on it because grapes were his favorite food."
The book, entitled "From the Vineyard of My Heart," is filled with 60 pages of poems. Rev. Cotton also recorded a CD of songs he wrote with piano accompaniment.
No matter how he is remembered, however, his friends and family said simply knowing him was a wonderful experience.
"He was the most giving person in the world," his daughter said. "He had the biggest heart and was a very devout Christian. He loved life and lived every day to the fullest till the day he died. I'm the one who was blessed to have him in my life."
January 13-2002
