Dec. 27, 1926 – Dec. 10, 2012

NATCHEZ — Services for Juanita Cotten, 85, of Natchez, who died Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Morgantown Baptist Church with the Rev. William McCorkle and the Rev. David Hodges Jr. officiating.

Burial will follow at Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Laird Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. until service time Friday, both at the church.

Mrs. Cotten was born Dec. 27, 1926, in Franklin County, the daughter of Jesse James Smith and Ethel Smith Smith. She was a member of the Westside Baptist Church where she served in a number of capacities — teaching Sunday school, Bible school and serving in the deacon wives group.

Mrs. Cotten was preceded in death by her parents; three sisters, Christine Powell, Pearline Barfoot and Maxine Curtis; and one brother, Paul Smith.

Survivors include her husband, James H. Cotten; one son, Mike Cotten and wife, Cathy, of Bremen, Ala.; three daughters, Judy Hodges and husband, David Hodges Sr., of Dumfries, Va., Pam Cotten of Natchez and Becky Tobermann and husband, Bob, of Southaven; seven grandchildren, Courtney Smith, Amy Steed, Amanda Livingston, John Hodges, David Hodges Jr., James Tobermann and Will Tobermann; six great-granddaughters; one great-grandson; and one brother, Gerald Smith and wife, Janet, of Florence.

Pallbearers will be Melvin Jones, Sonny Daniels, James Tobermann, Stephan Evans, David Hodges Jr., Kent Rogers, Chuck Binns and Will Tobermann.

A special thanks to her caregivers, Jennifer Jenkins, Cynthia Green, Dorothy Robinson, Joann Shorts and Camille Barnes for their loving and special care.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or to a charity of choice.

Online condolences may be made to www.lairdfh.com.