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Feb. 22, 1932 – March 12, 2015

FERRIDAY — Services for Mary Lou Squyres, 83, who died Thursday, March 12, 2015, will be at 11:30 a.m. today at Lake St. John Community Baptist Church in Ferriday with the Rev. Mark Richardson officiating.

Burial will follow at 3:30 p.m. at the Pine Ridge Cemetery in Melder, La., with the Rev. Wayne Martin officiating.

Arrangements are under the direction of Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral home in Natchitoches, La.

Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. until service time today at the church.

Mrs. Squyres was born Feb. 22, 1932, in Auzcena, a small community near Waterproof, the daughter of Presley and Claudia Watts Saxon.

She was an active member of Lake St. John Community Baptist Church where she served as church clerk for a number of years. She spent her early years growing up on beautiful Lake St. John in Concordia Parish.

After graduating from Ferriday High School in 1949, she attended Northwestern State University in Natchitoches where she majored in home economics. There she met and married James Earl “Sam” Squyres of Melder. Together they worked and traveled to a number of places including Texas, South Carolina and Alaska.

Mrs. Squyres had a passion for reading, sewing, cooking, flower gardening and enjoyed crossword puzzles. Her favorite color was purple and it was obvious by the number of “purple” items she had collected throughout her entire life. She enjoyed spending time with her friends in Love Circle, W.M.U., as well as a number of church groups and organizations.

Mrs. Squyres was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; one son, James Marlin “Jim” Squyres; and one grandson, Boaz Barber Squyres.

Survivors include two children, Merlin Squyres and wife, Mary, of Natchitoches and Larla McInnis and husband, Butch, of Shreveport, La.; eight grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; two brothers, James Presley Saxon and wife, Annette, of New Berlin, Wis., and Daniel Talmadge Saxon and wife, Jackie, of Stonewall, La.; two sisters, Helen Morrow and husband, Eugene, of Calhoun, La., and Rowena Martin and husband, Wayne, of Pocahontas, Ark.; one aunt, Daisy Schexnayder and husband, Al, of Cincinnati; and a number of cousins, nieces and nephews.