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June 13, 1913 – Sept. 22, 2015

NATCHEZ- Graveside services for Johnnie Etheridge Gay, 102, of Natchez, who died Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, will be 11 a.m. Thursday at the Natchez City Cemetery.

Burial will follow under the direction of Laird Funeral Home.

Mrs. Gay was born Friday, June 13, 1913, in Fulton, Tenn., the daughter of Willie Gray Etheridge and Nola May Milstead Etheridge.

She worked as a nurse for a number of years in Tennessee, Kentucky and Natchez and later helped her husband manage the Gay and Wilson Store in Natchez.

She attended Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Vidalia. She was a member of the Altrusa Club for a number of years and played in a card group with her friends for more than 60 years. She was quick to tell you that she was born on Friday, June 13, 1913, and survived being run over by a horse and buggy when she was three and by a car when she was 93.

She is preceded in death by her parents; one sister, Sue E. Pyron; one daughter, Shirley Stevens; and her husband, Herbert H. Gay.

Survivors include two daughters, Karen Gay Callon and husband, Fred, of Natchez and Linda Gay Vermeulen of Perth, Western Australia; eight grandchildren, Amy Callon Jones and husband, Brant, of Monroe, La., Heather B. Callon of Jackson, Lindsey H. Callon and wife, Katherine, of Natchez, Lauren W. Callon of Dallas, Carla Vermeulen Walsh and husband, Finn, of Margaret River, Western Australia, John Vermeulen of Perth, Mike Stevens of Livermore, Calif., and Nancy Stevens Cooper and husband, Edwin, of Centennial, Colo.; seven great-grandchildren, Evie Chase and Elise Callon Jones of Monroe, Harrison and Elizabeth Callon of Natchez, Jai Hunter and Lennox Clay Walsh of Margaret River; Steven Edwin Cooper and wife, Meg, of Durango, Colo.; and a number nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Vidalia or the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society.

The family extends thanks to her caregivers, Wanda Adams, June Macon and Dr. Kenneth Stubbs.

Online condolences may be sent to lairdfh.com.