Jan. 1, 1929 – Nov. 23, 2016

NATCHEZ — Services for Merrick Jones, 87, of Natchez, who died Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, at Natchez Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Smithland Baptist Church with the Rev. Ernest Ford Jr. officiating.  
Burial will follow at the church cemetery under the direction of West Gate Funeral Home.
There will be no visitation.
Mr. Jones was born Jan. 1, 1929, in Natchez, the son of Silas Jones Sr. and Excelena Tyler Jones.
He was retired from St. Catherine Ready Mix Inc. He was also a member of Smithland Baptist Church where he served as a deacon.
Mr. Jones was preceded in death by his parents; one son, Charles Davis Jones; one daughter, Ada Lee Jones; three brothers, James Albert Jones, Sam Jones and Charles Edward Jones; two sisters, Emma January and Mary Joyce Robinson; mother-in-law, Veran Smith; and father-in-law, George White.
Survivors include his loving and devoted wife of 63 years, Florean White Jones; three daughters, Lillian Carter of Baytown, Texas, Dorothy Cobbs and husband, William, of Houston, and Sandra Trimble and husband, Lyndell, of Natchez; one daughter-in-law, Shirley Jones of Natchez; five grandchildren, Kenneth Jones and wife, LaTaysha, of McDonald, Ga., Christopher Jones and wife, Michella, and Lyndell Trimble, all of Baytown, David Jones and wife, Kyndrea, and Cordell Carter and wife, Angela, all of Houston; 13 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Mary Ellen Ford and husband, the Rev. Ernest Ford Sr., of Natchez, and Gloria Jackson of New Orleans; three sisters-in-law, Janie Jones, Mary Louise Tenner, both of Natchez, and Catherine Minor of St. Louis, Mo.; one brother-in-law, Joe White of St. Louis; two goddaughters, Destinee Schoby and Taylor Schoby, both of Natchez; and a number of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Online condolences may be sent to westgatefh.com.