Merrit Firmin
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 30, 2010
GULFPORT — Services for Merrit Sylvair “Pic” Firmin, 69, of Gulfport, who died Saturday, March 27, 2010, in Gulfport, will be at 2 p.m. today at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Burial will follow at Southern Memorial Park under the direction of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home in Gulfport.
Mr. Firmin was born in Avoyelles Parish and grew up in Vidalia. He had been a resident of the Mississippi Gulf Coast since 1976. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran and was nominated “Airman of the Month” for two consecutive months. He also received a commendation for saving a young lady form drowning while serving at the Pentagon.
Pic attended Northeast Louisiana University at Monroe, Louisiana State University and earned a bachelor’s degree from William Carey University. He earned a master of history degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and was a 1969 Fellow at Stanford University.
Pic was employed as an editor of newspapers at the Alexandria Daily Town Talk in Alexandria, La., The Delta Democrat Times in Greenville, the Santa Fe Reporter in Santa Fe, N.M., and later became executive editor of the Sun Herald until his retirement in 1991. After his retirement he taught history at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and William Carey University. While at the Delta Democrat Times he played a vital role in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
Pic had a passion for pursuit of history and knowledge. He was a master fence builder and loved his family, especially his grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Hillary Pierre Firmin and Adelaide Smith Firmin; and his first wife, Dixie Lee Harvey Firmin.
Survivors include his wife, Pam Dennis Firmin; one daughter, Amy Firmin Bedsole and husband, Gary, of The Woodlands, Texas; one stepdaughter, Perri McKinnon and husband, Denis, of Pensacola, Fla.; one stepson, Lee O’Boyle of Gulfport; one brother, Pete Firmin and wife, Virginia, of Denham Springs, La.; and five grandchildren, Patricia Bedsole, Savannah Bedsole, Denis McKinnon III, Lauren McKinnon and Audra O’Boyle.
Online condolences may be sent to www.bradfordokeefe.com.