Aug. 15, 1917 – Feb. 3, 2014

MEADVILLE — Services for Willie J. “Bill” Halford Sr., 96, of Meadville, who died Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, at Franklin County Memorial Hospital, will be at 2 p.m. today at Meadville Baptist Church with the Rev. Matt Alexander and the Rev. Emory May officiating.

Burial will follow in Midway Cemetery under the direction of Franklin Funeral Home with the Rev. Johnny Bowlin officiating.

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

Mr. Halford was born Aug. 15, 1917, the son of John H. and Cora Black Halford.

He grew up near Meadville and was a graduate of the old Meadville High School. Soon after graduation, he joined the National Guard and was sent to Camp Blanding, Fla., where he was stationed at the time of the Pearl Harbor disaster. His company was mobilized and he saw action in the South Pacific during World War II.

Mr. Halford was a member of Meadville Baptist Church, Ben Franklin Masonic Lodge, Wahabi Temple, The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He retired from Johns-Manville in Natchez and Georgia Pacific in Roxie and was a cattle farmer for many years.

Mr. Halford was preceded in death by his parents; infant son, John Thomas; three brothers, Robert, Jessie and Frank; and four sisters, Dolly Hirsch, Hattie Mitchell, Corrine Cummins and Claudia Whittington.

Survivors include his wife, Mamie Ruth; one son, William J. “Bill” Halford Jr. and wife, Debbie; one daughter, Gayle Tumey and husband, Sam, of Liberty; and two grandchildren, Morgan Halford and Will Halford, both of Meadville.

Pallbearers will be Roger Ratcliff, Mike Goff, Terry Oglesby, Herman Smith, David Campbell, Jimmy Torrey, Bubba Gabbert and David Scarbrough.

The family request that memorials be made to Meadville Baptist Church at P.O. Box 369, Meadville, MS 39653 or Midway Cemetery Association c/o Bank of Franklin, P.O. Box 606, Meadville, MS 39653.