C. Hiram Walters
Published 5:53 pm Tuesday, June 1, 2010
C. Hiram Walters, 73, of Brandon, passed away on Saturday, May29, 2010, at home after a long, courageous battle with pancreaticcancer.
Hiram was reared in Scott County. He graduated from HarpervilleHigh School in 1954 and went on to attend East Central JuniorCollege. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1958with a degree in electrical engineering. Upon graduating, hemarried the love of his life, Charlotte Sue Dry, of Hillsboro, inScott County. This Memorial Day marked the 52nd year of theirprecious marriage.
Hiram joined Entergy in 1958 as a cadet engineer for EntergyMississippi Inc. (formerly Mississippi Power & Light Co.).After a short period in engineering, he moved to the field salesorganization and held positions in all business segments of thesales organization.
In 1967, Mr. Walters was promoted to local manager at Belzoniwith responsibilities for both business office and distributionoperations in the area. In 1969, he moved to Greenville asassistant division manager and in 1971 moved to Grenada for aneight-year period as division manager of the North CentralDivision. In 1979, he moved to Jackson as Director of DistributionOperations and in 1981 was promoted to Director of DivisionOperations. In 1984, he was promoted to vice president CustomerService for MP&L.
When Entergy first began consolidation of processes andprocedures in the distribution business in 1991, Walters moved tothe newly established position in the distribution headquarters inLittle Rock, as Senior Vice President Customer Service, ESI. In1993, he assumed the position of vice president of the GSU mergerand establishment of geographic regions across the system; he wasnamed vice president of Central Region, covering the area of NorthLouisiana and South Arkansas. In 1997, he began the role of VicePresident Customer Service, responsible for the customer servicemanagers, customer relations and economic development for thesystem until he retired in 1999 at the age of 62.
Mr. Walters’ activities included the following: member Board ofDirectors of Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, RegisteredProfessional Engineer in Mississippi, The Downtown Exchange Club ofJackson, member EEI Customer Service Operations Task Force, pastUnited Way Board of Directors, past Monroe-West Monroe Chamber ofCommerce Board, past president Jackson Mississippi Exchange Club,past president Grenada Rotary Club, past president Grenada Chamberof Commerce, Willow Wood Development Board, deacon at First BaptistChurch, Mississippi Board Member for Palisades HomeownersAssociation, board member for Mississippi Economic DevelopmentFoundation and Hall of Fame for First Baptist Church SanctuaryChoir.
His parents, Joseph Clyde Walters and Bertha Marie GuthrieWalters, preceded him in death.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Charlotte Sue DryWalters, of Brandon; his children Dianna Walters Garrick (Danny),of Memphis, Tenn., Vickie Walters Driskell (Glenn), of Brookhaven,and Elizabeth Walters Ray (Holmes), of Madison; and hisgrandchildren, Allen Elizabeth Stanford, Martha Claire Garrick,Hannah Marie Driskell, Caroline Roper Driskell, Joseph AlfordDriskell, and Hayden Elizabeth Ray.
One sister, Hilda Jo Walters Woods and two brothers, KermitWalters and Kenneth Walters, also survive Mr. Walters. He is alsosurvived by numerous loving nieces and nephews who will miss himdearly.
Funeral services were held at First Baptist Church in Jackson onTuesday, June 1, at 11 a.m., with burial at Parkway MemorialCemetery in Ridgeland.
Memorials may be made in his honor to the American CancerSociety.