Services for Franklin Edwin Greer Sr., of Ruth, will be held at10:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 5, at Topisaw Baptist Church in BogueChitto with burial in the church cemetery. Riverwood Family FuneralService is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation is Wednesday from 5 until 9 p.m. at the funeral home,and on Thursday at the church from 9:30 a.m. until the time of theservice.

Mr. Greer, 74, died June 2, 2008, at Mississippi Baptist MedicalCenter in Jackson. A native of Lincoln County, he was born in 1934on a farm in the Topisaw community to Seth Greer and Nanny BellReeves Greer.

He graduated from Enterprise High School as salutatorian in 1952and moved to the coast shortly thereafter. In 1953, he met andmarried Mittie Mae Ellerman. They were blessed with four children:Darlene Greer Dotherow, M.D.; Brenda Carol Greer Long, attorney;Franklin Edwin Greer Jr., construction superintendent; and RobertChristopher Greer, farmer and horse trainer.

During his days as an ironworker and construction supervisor,Frank oversaw several projects with NASA, including construction ofradar tracking stations in the Bahama Islands and restructuring ofthe test facilities in Picayune. At the test site, he was generalforeman for the conversion of the test stands from the originalSaturn rockets to accommodate the newer shuttle rockets.

He returned to farming in 1965 with the purchase of a tungorchard outside Bogalusa, La., where he also raised a few beefcalves. Following the destruction of the orchard and the tungindustry itself, by Hurricane Camille in 1969, he purchased amixed-breed herd of 20 dairy cows and a stanchion dairy barn. Atthe time, he and approximately 20 other dairy farmers supplied themilk to a small, local dairy, C.A. Stewarts. In 1976, he had theopportunity to transfer his dairy operation to the farm adjacent tohis family’s home farm back in Lincoln County. In the early ’80s,his farming practices and successes were honored as he was namedone of the Master Dairymen of Mississippi.

In 1996, with the beef herd growing, he built and beganoperating chicken houses for Sanderson Farms. In the spring of2003, he was honored as a top producer by Sanderson. Later thatyear, he sold that aspect of his farming operation, choosing toleave chicken farming. He then raised Black Angus cattle andQuarter horses.

He grew up in Topisaw Baptist Church, where he was a member anddeacon. He was a Mason and a Gideon. He was a board member andpresident of Lincoln County Farm Bureau. He held memberships in theLincoln County Livestock Association, the Mississippi StateLivestock Association, and was a lifetime member of the AmericanQuarter Horse Association. He was a member of the United StatesNavy Reserve.

Preceding him in death were his parents and his sister, Mary LouGreer Rushing.

Survivors are his wife, Mittie Mae Greer; his sons, Eddie Greerand wife Cindy, and Chris Greer and wife Tanya; his daughters,Darlene Greer Dotherow and husband Pierce, and Brenda Greer Longand husband Bobby; his sisters, Myrtis White and Margaret Brent;and his grandchildren, Jenny Pittman and husband Bill, SethDotherow, Paul Dotherow and Robert Greer.