Mrs. Jane Becker Heidelberg, 88, ofHattiesburg, passed away on August 2, 2011, at Alden PointeAssisted Living Center in Hattiesburg. Funeral services will beheld at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 5, 2011, at Main Street UnitedMethodist Church in Hattiesburg. Visitation will precede theservices and begin at 9:00 a.m. at the church. Interment willfollow at Highland Cemetery in Hattiesburg. Hulett-Winstead FuneralHome in Hattiesburg is in charge of arrangements.

    Mrs. Heidelberg was born September 3, 1922 in Brookhaven, Miss.,the eldest of four children born to Martin Grover (Cleve) Beckerand Ruth Hoyer Becker. She attended St. Francis Catholic School inBrookhaven, and graduated from Brookhaven High School in 1940. Sheattended the University of Mississippi where she was a member ofDelta Delta Delta sorority and was elected Freshman Queen. It wasthere she met her future husband, Rowland W. Heidelberg, Jr. (Rody)of Hattiesburg; and they were married in 1943. After serving inWorld War II, Mr. Heidelberg completed Law School at the Universityof Mississippi; and the couple returned to Hattiesburg with theiryoung son, Web, for Rody to enter his father’s law firm.

    In due course a daughter arrived, Helen Hoyer Heidelberg, and Mrs.Heidelberg became and remained very active in the civic and sociallife of Hattiesburg. She was for many years very involved withJunior Auxiliary of Hattiesburg, receiving its Crown Award(lifetime achievement award) in 2000. She helped found andcontinued to support the Delta Delta Delta sorority chapter at theUniversity of Southern Mississippi, and was named a member of theUSM Honor Club for her long time support of the University. Being amember of “The Greatest Generation”, Mrs. Heidelberg was a strongsupporter of Camp Shelby, serving on the ADP’s Military AffairsCommittee, hosting annual receptions in her home for the soldiers,and contributing family artifacts to Camp Shelby’s Military Museum.She was also active over many years in the South Central Miss. BarAuxiliary, serving it in many capacities. She served as “Mother” ofthe Order of DeMolay, a high school fraternity, while Web was amember, and even afterwards, and was always involved in support ofher family members’ many activities. Having lost Rody to cancer in1989, Mrs. Heidelberg became an active  supporter of the American CancerSociety, serving on its Board. In 2002 she was elected to the Boardof the new Mississippi School of the Arts, in her hometown ofBrookhaven.

    Mrs. Heidelberg was a long time member of the DAR, the ColonialDames, and First Families of Mississippi, and was an avid member ofher own Becker and Heidelberg family associations.

    Mrs. Heidelberg loved Main Street United Methodist Church and wasan active member for over sixty years, serving on its AldersgateBoard for over thirty years.

    Mrs. Heidelberg was predeceased by her parents, her husband of 45years, her sister, Lydy Becker Henley Caldwell of Jackson; herniece, Lynn Henley Rogers of Dallas; her niece, Martha Ellen WelshReichardt; and her great-nephew, Craig Marsh Geno, Jr. of Jackson.She is survived by her brother, M. C. (Mike) Becker (Lu) ofBrookhaven; her sister, Barbara Becker Bailey of Metairie, LA; herson, R. Web Heidelberg, III (Michelle) of Hattiesburg; herdaughter, Helen Heidelberg Cullefer (Charles) of Hattiesburg; fivegrandchildren, Sarah Stanton Crimmins (Kim) of Hattiesburg, CharlesR. Cullefer (Katie) of Daphne, AL, Michael L. Stanton, II ofOxford, MS, Joseph W. Heidelberg of Hattiesburg, and Hollis St.Clair Heidelberg of Queenstown, New Zealand; fourgreat-grandchildren, Maylen R. Cullefer, Nolan P. Crimmins, BeckerV. Crimmins and Kelly T. Crimmins; her nieces, Madeline R. Gill(Clave), Becker R. Lorenzen (Michael), Priscilla R. Kujawski(Bill), Elizabeth B. Henley, C. C. Henley, Kayo H. Sykes (Clay),Angela B. Balcom (Mike), Michelle Becker, Martha N. Mabry (Ray),and Dorothy N. Poindexter (Fred); her nephews Fulton J. Welsh, Jr.(Bettie) and R. Patrick Welsh (Jean), together with great-nieces,great-nephews, numerous cousins, and many great friends.

    In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to theAmerican Cancer Society, Main Street United Methodist Church, theUSM Foundation-Partners for the Arts, or to the charity of one’schoice.