July 26, 1933 – Jan. 1, 2019

VIDALIA — Services for Elizabeth Ellen Tucker, 85, of Vidalia, who died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019, at Camelot Leisure Living in Ferriday, will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Vidalia Methodist Church with the Rev. Clyde Ray Webber and the Rev. Stuart Sherman officiating.
Burial will follow at Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Young’s Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home.
Mrs. Tucker was born July 26, 1933, in Winnsboro, La., the daughter of the Rev. Thomas Whitfield Stodghill Sr. and Jewell Taylor Stodghill.
She married her high school sweetheart, William Richard “Tommy” Tucker in 1951. They had three children, Ellen Tucker Yates, Merry Tucker Bonnette and William Rollie Tucker. Beth and Tommy raised their children in Vidalia, and then moved to Natchez in 1973, where they lived for 19 years. After Tommy died, she moved back to Vidalia.
She taught piano for 57 years. She also enjoyed playing the pipe organ for Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church every Saturday and Sunday — then, after leaving the service and playing for the church services at the Vidalia Presbyterian Church, she played for a number of weddings, funerals and other events throughout her lifetime. She also played the piano or organ while her husband, Tommy, sang.
Beth was a member of the Musical Arts League, a board member of the Natchez Children’s Home and a member of Vidalia Methodist Church. Every year she entered her piano students in the Mississippi State Festival of Music competitions, where most of her students were rated superior. Music was her life.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and one son, William.
Survivors include two daughters, Ellen and husband, David, of Vidalia, and Merry Bonnette and husband, Steve, of Natchez; one brother, Thomas Whitfield Stodghill II of Monroe, La.; six grandsons, David Alan Yates Jr., Paul Douglas Yates, William Richard Bailey, Lucas Gabriel Bailey, William “Tuck” Tucker and Wayne Harveston; four granddaughters, Holly Elizabeth McDaniel, Michelle Bailey Young, Aislinn Danielle Bailey and Love Tucker; 20 great-grandchildren; and four great-great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be grandsons.
Memorials may be made to a charity of choice.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at youngsfh.com.