PORT GIBSON — Services for Lester Kenneth Tanksley, who died Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012, at his residence, will be at 3 p.m. today at Glenwood Funeral Home Chapel in Port Gibson with the Rev. Curtis Gibson and the Rev. Dennis Lewellyn officiating.

Burial will follow at Cane Ridge Cemetery in Lorman under the direction of Glenwood Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until service time today at the funeral home.

Mr. Tanksley was a native and lifelong resident of the Blue Hill community in Jefferson County. He was a graduate of Red Lick High School, taking a part in all 4-H activities and all sports. He was also a graduate of Hinds Junior College and Mississippi State University with an electrical engineering degree.

Mr. Tanksley was employed by Southwest Mississippi Electric Power Association for 30 years, beginning as an engineer and retiring as manager of engineering and operations. He was also involved in cattle and tree farming. He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve for eight years and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Lorman Water Association for a number of years.

Mr. Tanksley served as a Colonel on the staff of former Gov. Bill Waller and was an active lifetime member of the Blue Hill Methodist Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lester and Molly Tanksley and one sister, Kay T. Shipp.

He was a loving and devoted family man who is survived by his wife of 54 years, Diane D. Tanksley; one daughter, Debra T. Jackson and husband, Rusty, of Natchez; one son, Lester Douglas Tanksley and wife, Glenda, of Lorman; one sister, Fay T. Stephenson and husband, Robert, of Jackson’s Gap, Ala.; four grandchildren, Amy and LeeAnn Gardner of Hattiesburg, Hanna Chalk and husband, Anthony, of Brookhaven and Tanner Tanksley of Lorman; and two great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Tanner Tanksley, Burt Anders, Jimmy Wiggins, Johnny Harold Smith, Freddie Shelton, Bob Stephenson, Greg Stephenson and Lewis Shipp.

Honorary pallbearers will be Bill Hill and Charles Green.