Funeral services for James Emory Raiford of Ruth are 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, at Shady Grove Baptist Church, Ruth with burial in the church cemetery. Brookhaven Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation is Wednesday from 9 until 11 a.m. at the church.

Mr. Raiford, 85, died Sunday, April 20, 2014, at King’s Daughters Medical Center. He was born on April 2, 1929, to the late Willie Raiford and Fannie McCullough Raiford.

He was a member of Shady Grove Baptist Church. He was a veteran of the Korean War and was retired from New Orleans Public Service.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Jean,”Queenie,” Moffitt Raiford, two brothers, two sisters and a nephew.

He is survived by one daughter, Melinda Raiford Blaise and husband, Robert, of Pensacola, Fla.; one grandson, James Robert “Bobby” Blaise; two granddaughters, Kalie Blaise Kennedy and husband, Robert, and Chelsea Blaise; a Special Friend, Joyce Smithie, and he was a beloved uncle to numerous nieces and nephews.