Lelia Jackson

July 16, 1926 - July 7, 2015

Ms. Lelia Jackson, 88, passed away at the Bee Hive Assisted Living Home in Philadelphia, Mississippi, on July 7. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, 2015, in the Nowell Massey Funeral Home Chapel in Louisville, Mississippi, with Rev. Phil Fancher and Rev. Prentiss Gordon officiating. Visitation will be the day of the service from 12:30 p.m. until service time at Nowell Massey Funeral Home. Interment will follow in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Sturgis, Mississippi. She was born July 16, 1926, to Chapman and Susie Loyd Jackson. Ms. Jackson was a graduate of Blue Mountain College and Golden Gate Theological Seminary. She worked with the Baptist Home Mission Board teaching kindergarten in the Spanish mission churches in Texas and Arizona. She retired in the late 1970’s and returned to Mississippi to serve as caregiver for her mother. During this time, she worked part-time at the Winston County Library and was in charge of the children’s Story Hour. She was a member of Antioch Baptist Church and was active in their WMU. She is survived by one sister, Mercede “Jackie” Tabor Doty and husband, Don, of Starkville; three sisters-in-law, Frances Jackson and Rachel Jackson of Sturgis; and Helen Jackson of Clinton; and a number of nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; four brothers, A. L. “Boose” Jackson, Gines Jackson, and Alfred Jackson all of Sturgis; and Ruben Jackson of Clinton; and four sisters, Virginia Jackson and Betty Jackson of Sturgis; Rebecca Jackson of Memphis, Tennessee; and Polly Sprayberry of Byram, Mississippi. Serving as pallbearers will be Howard Butler, Jeff Essary, Steve Gladney, David Jackson, Paul Jackson, and Chip Tabor. Memorials may be given to Pleasant Hill Cemetery Fund, 579 Pleasant Hill Road, Sturgis, MS 39769. Services are under the direction of Nowell-Massey Funeral Home, 724 North Columbus Avenue, Louisville, MS. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family by signing the guest register at www.nowellmasseyfuneralhome.com.