BELLServices for Michael Louis Bell, 28, of Troy, formerly of Calhoun County, will be at 10 a.m. today in the chapel of K.L. Brown Funeral Home and Cremation Center Chapel. Rev. Dr. Robert Tant will officiate. Burial will be in Seven Springs Cemetery.
Mr. Bell died Aug. 17 in Luverne.
Survivors include his wife, DeAnna Payne Bell of Troy; his parents, Louis and Shirley Bell of Ohatchee; a sister and brother-in-law, Sheila Joy and Bryan Feazell of Wellington; his in-laws, John and Janese Payne of Alexandria; two sisters-in-law, Katie and Lacey Payne; two nephews, Heath and Lucas Feazell and a niece, Savannah Feazell.
Pallbearers will be Mark Wallace, Ben Cunningham, Gary Lewis, Allen Wright, Tom Lowry and Shane Adrian.
Mr. Bell was a 1997 graduate of Alexandria High School. In 2001, he graduated from Jacksonville State University with a degree in music and was a member of the Marching Southerners. He received his master’s from Troy University and was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He was employed with Kaplan University.
Memorial donations can be made to the JSU Foundation on behalf of the Marching Southerners, 700 Pelham Road, N., Jacksonville 36265.
BOOZER
Graveside services for Walter Raleigh Boozer, Sr., 79, were at 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at Rabbittown Cemetery. Rev. Rick McClain officiated. K.L. Brown Funeral Home and Cremation Center directed.
Mr. Boozer died Aug. 12 at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital.
Survivors include his wife Nellie Dean Boozer; two daughters and a son-in-law, Tina and Ernist Carter and Vivian Waits; two sons and daughters-in-law, Walter and Clauida Boozer, Jr. and Lonnie and Amy Boozer; a sister, Irene West; 12 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers were Lonnie Boozer, Mark Boozer, Mark Boozer, Jr., JoVante’ Boozer and Walter Raleigh Boozer, Jr.
His first wife Jenice Boozer, his parents, Walter P. and Cassie (Motes) Boozer, two brothers Oscar Boozer and Clay Boozer and three sisters Cleo Dean, Ammi Walley and Martha Leona “Jean” Culp preceded him in death.
Mr. Boozer enjoyed sports and especially liked Ohio State and Jacksonville State University. He was born and reared in Jacksonville and attended Talladega School for the Deaf. He retired from the post office in Columbus.
HOBBS
Memorial services for John T. Hobbs Jr., 81, of Oak Level were at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, at First Baptist Church. Derek Staples and Rev. Jim Wilson officiated. Andy Bumpus will provided the music.
Mr. Hobbs died Aug. 11 at Regional Medical Center in Anniston after a short illness.
Survivors include his wife, Suzanne; four sons and three daughters-in-law, Tom and Cheryl Hobbs of Birmingham, Rick and Gina Hobbs of Memphis, Tenn., Mike Hobbs of Johnson City, Tenn., and Chris and Lauren Hobbs of Jacksonville; a step son, Bill Duncan of Oak Level; three brothers and sisters-in-law, George and Pauline Hobbs, Gene and Ruth Hobbs and Harold and Dorothy Hobbs all of Calhoun County; 13 grandchildren, Jade, Jason, Mitchell, Kyle, Jon, Jordan, Alex, Cameron, Reid, Lexie, Jack, Hope, and Joshua; and many nieces and nephews.
Mr. Hobbs was a Wilsonville native, born Aug. 4, 1927, to John Thompson Hobbs Sr., and Mary Pluma Vansant Hobbs. After graduating from Jacksonville High School in 1946, he served in the United States Air Force and took part in the Berlin Airlift in 1949 as a member of a unit providing radar direction for Allied planes that brought crucial supplies to the embattled citizens of Berlin. He later earned a bachelor’s in mathematics and history from Jacksonville State University. A 35-year career with the United States Postal Service followed. He designed and built their home in rural Cleburne County at Oak Level. In addition to using beams that he hand-hewed with his grandfather’s century-old foot ax, he also fashioned a fireplace from large rocks he gathered by hand from the mountains of Borden Springs. It took him seven years to build it.
Memorial donations can be made to the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville Building Fund, P.O. Box 400, Jacksonville 36265.
McNABB
A memorial service for Agnes McVey McNabb was at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, in the chapel of K. L. Brown Funeral Home and Cremation Center.
Survivors include three daughters and two sons-in-law, Ann and Robert Busby of Falls Church, Va., Beth and Stephen Halstead of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Kem Kendig and her children Andy and Katie of Phoenix, Ariz.; and a son, Charles Jack McNabb of Jacksonville and his daughter Tiya of Birmingham.
Mrs. McNabb came to this country from a small coal-mining town in Scotland. She was 18 when she married an Army man and traveled the world while having children. “The years spent raising my children were the best in my life,” she would say.
She received a bachelor’s and a master’s from Jacksonville State University and spent 20 years teaching high school English and elementary reading, the joy of her career. Following her retirement she worked with the Jacksonville Meals on Wheels and served as a “bell ringer” at Christmas for the Salvation Army. She enjoyed helping those less fortunate. For many years she was a member of the Inter Se Study.
Memorial donations can be made to the Jacksonville Christian Outreach Center or Hillcrest Baptist Church in Saks.
REDFORD
Graveside services for Annie Ruth Redford, 73, will be at 2 p.m. today at Nances Creek Cemetery. Ray Brock will officiate. K.L. Brown Funeral Home and Cremation Center will direct.
Mrs. Redford died Aug. 17 at Jacksonville Health and Rehabilitation Center.
Survivors include a daughter, Sandra Redford, of Jacksonville; two sons, Kenneth Redford of California and Keith Tippets of Jacksonville; three brothers, Danny Wilson, Charles Wilson and William Wilson, all of Jacksonville; four grandchildren; her companion, James Bundrum, of Jacksonville and many nieces and nephews.
Her parents Kenneth and Annie Redford; two daughters Pam Crawford and Denise Turner and a sister Faye Kerimidias preceded her in death.
SMITH
Services for Clifford McKinley Smith, 89, formerly of Anniston, will be 11 a.m. today at Jacksonville Church of Christ. Song leaders will be Homer Smith and Jim Mercer Sr. Burial will follow at Greenlawn Cemetery. Gray Brown Service Mortuary directed.
Mr. Smith died Friday, Aug. 15.
Survivors include wife of 68 years Estelle Smith, of Searcy, Ark., formerly of Anniston; two daughters and sons-in-law, Phyllis and Tom Alexander of Searcy, Ark., and Glenda and Jim Mercer and husband of Huntsville; a son and daughter-in-law, Ed and Mary Ann Smith of Wetumpka; seven grandchildren, Jim Mercer Jr. and his wife Mary Kay, Steven Mercer and his wife Yvonne, Julie Campbell, Rachel Smith and her husband Craig, Jeffrey Mercer and his wife, Emmie, Isaac Alexander and his wife Angela, and Hannah Carpenter and her husband Heath; 18 great-grandchildren, Jesse Campbell, Stephanie Mercer, Peyton Mercer, Taylor Mercer, Kaylee Mercer, Philip Mercer, Cade Smith, Jena Rogers, Tristin Carpenter, Canon Smith, Colton Smith, Silas Smith, Jeffrey Mercer Jr., Levi Mercer, Violet Alexander, Joshua Rogers, Catcher Smith, and Anderson Mercer; many nieces and nephews among these Wanda Godfrey Steen, Marie Godfrey Couch, June Godfrey Ottinger, and Cheryl Godfrey Bonds.
Pallbearers will be Jim Mercer Jr., Peyton McKinley Mercer, Jesse Campbell, Isaac Alexander, Jeffrey Mercer Sr., and Craig Smith.
His mother Duncan fathers Richard Smith and John Duncan, sister Johnia Holder, brothers Homer “Jack” Smith, Billie Lee Smith, and Bobby Duncan preceded him in death.
Mr. Smith was born in Jacksonville on March 19, 1919. He grew up in Jacksonville and married Estelle Norton of Williams. They met in the 10th grade and were high school sweethearts. They wed in October 1939. They were baptized by Joe S. Hyde in October 1945. Mr. Smith began teaching at the Jacksonville Church of Christ and leading singing. At the age of 37 he began preaching for the Ironaton Church of Christ near Talladega.
He worked over 22 years at Fort McClellan as supervisor and U.S. government employee before retiring to preach in full-time
WILSON
Services for George W. Wilson, Jr., 58, were at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 15, in the chapel of K. L. Brown Funeral Home and Cremation Center. Rev. Tommy Hollingsworth officiated. Burial was in Whites Gap Cemetery.
Mr. Wilson died Aug. 11 at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital.
Survivors include his former wife, Regina Wilson; two daughters and a son-in-law, Shannon and Derek Cannon and Leslie Wilson, all of Jacksonville; four sons and a daughter-in-law Matthew and Gina Wilson of Jacksonville, Christopher Wilson of Tuscaloosa, Austin Wilson of Anniston and Christian Wilson of Mississippi; three sisters and brothers-in-law, Patricia and Doug Fritts of Plymouth, Mass., Deborah and Daniel Kimborowicz of Hingham, Mass., and Mary Beth and Hank Bueniewicz of Oviedo, Fla.; four brothers and two sisters-in-law, Robert and Maggie Wilson of Masphpee, Mass., Thomas Wilson of Port Orange, Fla., Donald and Leslie Wilson of Florida and Andrew Wilson of Arizona; five grandchildren, Tyler, Torren, Kaitlyn, Brooklyn and Tristan; a special niece, Julie Wilson and many nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers were James Ramey, Ray Pledger, Kevin Sells, J.J. Taylor, Frank Whaley and Mike Lewis. Honorary pallbearers were Tommy Patterson, Danny Sweat, Jimmy Woods, Jerry Gardner, Ronnie Traffanstedt Scottie Greenwood, Wayne Smith and Jim McGill and members of The CDL Connections, The Social Club, and the On The River Club.
His parents George Wilson, Sr. and Mary Wilson and a son George Michael Wilson preceded him in death. Mr. Wilson was an avid basketball player. He set a U.S. Marathon record in Massachusetts on May 2, 1966. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served as post commander of the American Legion Post No. 157 in Jacksonville. He was a Red Sox fan.
