Raymond Dixon

Services for Raymond Dixon, of Brookhaven, will be held at 2p.m. on Saturday, March 15, at Alexander Junior High SchoolAuditorium in Brookhaven with burial in Mt. Zion Missionary BaptistChurch Cemetery in Bogue Chitto. R.E. Tyler Funeral Home is incharge of arrangements.

Visitation is Friday from noon until 7 p.m. at the funeralhome.

Mr. Dixon, 50, died March 8, 2008, at the University ofMississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He was born in LincolnCounty on Aug. 3, 1957, to Virgie Dixon Brothern.

He was employed with Phillips Bark Processing Co. as a machineoperator. He was a member of Damascus Missionary BaptistChurch.

Preceding him in death were his mother and his stepfather,Nathaniel Brothern.

Survivors are his wife, Dorothy Butler Dixon, of Brookhaven; hissons, Reginald Dixon, of Jackson, and Orlando Dixon, of Brookhaven;his daughters, Kedria Butler Yarborough, of Brookhaven, and DeidreDickey, of Alabama; his brothers, Derek Dixon, of Brookhaven, andMarvin Dixon, of Bogue Chitto; his sisters, Maxine Allen, of BogueChitto, Darlene Leggett, of Wesson, and Dorothy Wortham, ofMichigan; and his eight grandchildren.

Antoinette ‘Ann’ Powell Kohlmeister

Services for Antoinette “Ann” Powell Kohlmeister, of OrangeVale, Calif., will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, at PineGrove Missionary Baptist Church in Sontag with burial in the churchcemetery. Williams Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation is Friday from 1 until 7 p.m. at the funeral home,with family hour from 6 until 7.

Mrs. Kohlmeister, 48, died March 4, 2008, at SouthwestMississippi Regional Medical Center. She was born in New Orleans,La., on June 25, 1959, to Melvin Lee Powell and Lillie Mae PowellBass.

She was a graduate of Shasta High School in Redding, Calif., andSierra College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree inBusiness. She was a government employee with the Social SecurityAdministration for 30 years.

Preceding her in death were her paternal grandparents, Marvinand Nancy Powell; her maternal grandfather, Willie Davis; fouraunts; two uncles and one niece.

Survivors are her husband, Martin Kohlmeister, of Orange Vale;her son, Alexander Kohlmeister, of Orange Vale; her daughters,Antoinette “Toni” Kohlmeister and Heather Kohlmeister, both ofOrange Vale; her father, Melvin Lee Powell, of New Orleans; hermother, Lillie Mae Bass and husband Leroy, of Wesson; her brother,Quintin Powell, of Wesson; her sisters, Lavette Powell, of Roanoke,Va., Cassandra Powell, of Country Club Hills, Ill., Lynette Terry,of South Holland, Ill., Renatta Forbes, of Columbia, Mary Martin,of Vicksburg, and Melvina Lafayette, of New Orleans; hergrandmother, Willie V. Davis, of Wesson; and many nieces, nephews,aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Frank A. ‘F.A.’ Mead

Services for Frank A. “F.A.” Mead, of McComb, will be held at 2p.m. on Thursday, March 13, at Community Funeral ServicesChapel.

Mr. Mead, 67, died March 9, 2008, at his residence. He was bornon Sept. 7, 1940, to Frank A. Mead Sr. and Ottie Mae GravesMead.

Preceding him in death were his parents; his daughter, PatriciaAnn Mead; his sisters, Helen Morris and Dot Mae; and a grandson,Willis Decanter Jr.

Survivors are his wife, Dyan Mead, of McComb; his sons, JoeBrekeen, of McComb, Larry Mead and wife Tammy, of Brookhaven, andWillis Decanter and wife Jeanne, of Wesson; his daughters, CindyParks and husband Charles, Rebecca Heathcock and Newell Till, ofBrookhaven, and Barbara Fairley; his brother, Vertis Mead, ofJackson; his sisters, Eddie Ruth Maiers and Doris Thompson, ofMcComb, and Grace Greer, of Ruth; his grandchildren, Dustin Brock,of McComb, Mary, Terry and Nicholas Brekeen, Tabitha Turnage,Stacey, Kayla and Travis Chandler, Alex, Corrina, Kennedy andHannah Mead, Austin Wallace, Dalton and Hunter Decanter; and hissix great-grandchildren.

Thomas Owen Roberts

A memorial service for Thomas Owen Roberts will be held at 11a.m. on Saturday, March 15, 2008, at Faith Presbyterian Church inBrookhaven.

Visitation will be held on Saturday from 10:30 a.m. until thetime of the service at the church.

Mr. Roberts, 88, a prominent attorney and civic leader inBrookhaven since 1947, died on Feb. 21, 2008.

Benjamin Linton Spearman Jr.

Ben Spearman, of Brookhaven, died peacefully in his home onMarch 10, 2008. Born in Anniston, Ala., in 1916, he was the onlyson of Benjamin L. Spearman Sr., and Chester Bell Spearman. Hegraduated from Anniston High School in 1934 and from TulaneUniversity in 1938. He then studied music (clarinet and saxophone)in New York for two years during the Big Band music era. Heenlisted in the United States Army in January 1941 and served hiscountry for five years in the Finance Department during World WarII in the European Theater and the Philippines, discharged with therank of Chief Warrant Officer.

Mr. Spearman moved to Brookhaven in April 1946 as a partner in alaundry and dry-cleaning business. Until 1970, he remainedself-employed in business, including the Brookhaven Oldsmobiledealership from 1951 until 1958. As an accountant, he joined theMississippi State Tax Commission as an auditor, and he retired fromthat agency in 1979.

A longtime member of the First United Methodist Church, Mr.Spearman was a member of the Administrative Board since 1954. Heserved as chairman of that board and also as chairman of thechurch’s Board of Trustees.

An avid and competitive sportsman, he loved and participated inmany sports throughout his life. He won the Alabama State DoublesChampionship in 1939. During his Army service, he played andrefereed USO ping pong. In Brookhaven, he bowled and golfedregularly, winning many trophies in both sports.

A participant in many community activities and charity drives,Mr. Spearman helped found the Brookhaven Touchdown Club, servingone year as president. He was active in the Brookhaven-LincolnCounty Chamber of Commerce, having served as a director, and in theBrookhaven Country Club, having served a year as president and twoterms on the Board of Directors. He also served as chairman of theLincoln County Cancer Crusade for 1982. He was elected King of theHarvest Ball and later served as president and treasurer of theKrewe of Ceres.

Mr. Spearman will be remembered by all who knew him as afriendly, loyal, persistent, determined and generous man of hisword. His reputation as a reader, traveler and learner is legend inBrookhaven.

He is survived by his beloved wife of nearly 60 years, theformer Phyllis Moreton Johnson, of Brookhaven; three daughters,Pamela Spearman Womack and husband/son-in-law, Wil Womack, ofChattanooga, Tenn., Terry Spearman, of Whitehouse Texas, and CarolSpearman Kern, of Camp Hill, Pa.; and five grandchildren, BenjaminJames Sulser, Claire Moreton Sulser, Alexander Gerald Miller, EmilyMoreton Miller and Stephenie Robbin Kern.

A memorial service for Mr. Spearman will be held at the FirstUnited Methodist Church in Brookhaven on Friday, March 14, at 11a.m., with visitation at the church beginning at 9:30 a.m.Riverwood Family Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be madeto one of Mr. Spearman’s many favorite charities: The BrookhavenFirst United Methodist Church Building Committee; the BrookhavenKing’s Daughters Hospital Foundation; or The Smile Train(www.smiletrain.org).

Michael Derek Tanner

Services for Michael Derek Tanner, of Brookhaven, will be heldat 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 15, at New Hope United MethodistChurch in Brookhaven with burial in the church cemetery. RiverwoodFamily Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation is Friday from 5 until 9 p.m. at the funeral home,and on Saturday at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of theservice.

Mr. Tanner, 27, died March 11, 2008, in Amite County. He wasborn on June 7, 1980, to Mike Tanner and Nancy Tanner.

He was an oil field worker and was employed with H and PDrilling Co. He was a member of the Methodist faith.

Preceding him in death were his grandparents, Truly Smith Jr.and Shirley P. Smith.

Survivors are his parents; his sisters, Amy K. Tanner and Ivy P.Tanner and friend Jesus Delacruz; his grandparents, Rayford andKathleen Wallace; his great-grandmother, Kathryn Johnson, of WestPalm Beach, Fla.; his aunts and uncles, Lloyd and Becky Lofton,Danny and Debby Victory, Eddie and Sherry Tanner, Audie and RitaWallace, Wardell and Linda Sandifer, and Uncle Desi Case; hiscousins, Matthew Christa and Brianna Moore, Amber Christa, JonathonWallace and Megan Fonseco, Stephen Christa, Jasmine Dixon, DamonWallace, Tara Lambert, Tasha Wallace, Eric Lee Case and BrodyTanner; a very special niece, Vivianna Delacruz (who called him”D”), and a very special friend, Allison Buckley. He had many closefriends with whom he spent time and enjoyed him very much. You knowwho you are.