Obituaries for Wed., Jan. 17, 2018
Published 4:49 pm Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Adam Gantt
Mr. Adam Gantt, 81, a resident of Freemanville, passed away on Jan. 12, 2018, at a local hospital.
Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Mayberry Funeral Home.
Marilyn Edwards Branch
Mrs. Marilyn Edwards Branch, 68, passed away on Fri., Jan. 12, 2018, in Fairhope.
Mrs. Branch was a native of New Orleans, La., former resident of Bratt, Fla. and has resided in Atmore for the past 48 years. She was a loving mother and grandmother.
She was the bookkeeper at the Presbyterian Church of Atmore, and was a member of the Bratt First Baptist Church.
She is preceded in death by her parents, T.J. and Lizzie Edwards; one sister, Sharon Zettlemoyer; and two brothers, Alfred Edwards and James Edwards.
She is survived by her two sons, Travis (Tina) Branch of Daphne and Michael (Julie James) Branch of Atmore; three brothers, A.J. (Willie Jean) Edwards of Bratt, Carlie Edwards of Bratt and Bernie (Debra) Edwards of Bratt; and six grandchildren, Christian, Amy, Sarah, Hagan, Jaxson and Zachery.
Funeral services will be held today, Wed., Jan. 17, 2018, at 11 a.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Delbert Redditt officiating.
Burial will follow at the Godwin Cemetery.
Visitation was Jan. 16 at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Wade Edwards, Robie Edwards, Chris Edwards, Josh Edwards, Cary Jordan and Christian Braden.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes LLC of Atmore is in charge of all arrangements.
William H. Arnold
William H. Arnold Jr., 85, a native of Atmore, longtime resident of Huntsville and recently of Alexander City, had his Heaven Day on Fri., Jan. 12, 2018.
He is reunited with his wife, Barbara Smith Arnold, of Atmore, who preceded him to Heaven.
Dad, known as Bill, is survived by a sister, Mary Susan Arnold Curry (Walt Curry) of La Mesa, Calif.; by two daughters, Betty Arnold Vardaman (Blue Vardaman) of Alexander City and Gwyn Arnold Alexander of Muscle Shoals; and son, Doug Arnold (Jeanie Arnold) of Alexander City.
He is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Bill was preceded in death by his mother and father, Pearlie Mae Campbell Arnold and William Henry Arnold; son in law, Kelly Alexander; and one great-grandchild, Makiah Kaitlyn King, 4.
Bill was born to a family led by a mechanical and steam engine engineer, working at Swift Lumber in Atmore.
He became an excellent student and member of the Barnes Boys football dynasty, playing guard from 1947-49.
While serving in the Atmore Army National Guard during the Korean War, he became an expert in advanced radar systems.
Following the war, he finished Auburn University in electrical engineering in three years and attended graduate school in magnetics and guidance systems at the University of New Mexico and MIT in Boston.
Subsequently, he completed another master’s degree in management at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
His engineering career spanned the Atlas Rocket program, Saturn and Saturn Five launches, (managing the Boeing launch simulations) to managing the Anti-ballistic Missile Defense Agency Laboratory (ABMDA) in Huntsville, which was the development phase of the Iron Dome.
His guidance system work in his later years extended to the precision guidance of “Star Wars” laser weapons applications in ICBM warfare. He spent years with Stanford Research Institute, Boeing Company and Teledyne Brown Engineering.
In his last years, he served and loved Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Huntsville as well as being a volunteer at the Huntsville Senior Center.
He loved swimming at Piedmont Pool, Auburn Football and his family.
He will be greatly missed.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to Big Oak Ranch, www.bigoak.org, one of his favorite charities, in lieu of flowers.
Memorial Services for Mr. William H. Arnold, were held Jan. 15, 2018, at the Chapel of Radney Funeral Home with the Rev. Blue Vardaman officiating.
Veteran Honors were provided by the Alexander City Veterans Honor Guard.
Memorial messages may be sent to the family at www.radneyfuneralhome.com.
Radney Funeral Home in Alexander City was in charge of the arrangements.
Bobbie Maurine Sims Hadley
Mrs. Bobbie Maurine Sims Hadley, 87, passed away on Fri., Jan. 12, 2018, in Mobile.
Mrs. Hadley was born on Oct. 5, 1930, in Potts Camp, Miss., as the only child out of nine siblings born outside of Alabama.
She was raised in Huxford. After she finished high school, she moved to Miami, Fla., where she began her vocation at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in the dietary department. She later moved back to Alabama and was employed at Greenlawn Hospital in Atmore, as the manager of the food service department.
She became a member of Hospital Institution Educational Food Services (HIEFS). She worked for many years in hospitals and nursing homes until she retired. After retiring, she became a cafeteria manager with a new school in Baldwin County for six years, and then retired again.
In 2005, she moved to Montgomery and then in 2015 she moved to Grand Bay.
She became a Christian at a young age and always served and loved her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
She is preceded in death by her parents; five sisters; and three brothers.
She is survived by her daughter, Bobbie Lou Jones (Randy) of Chuncula; son, John Marvin McBride (Elsa) of Grand Bay; daughter, Lisa Ann Scott (David) of Montgomery; stepson, Johnny Lawrence Hadley (Zonia) of Perdido; stepdaughters, Tonya Harville of Bay Minette and Dani Whatley of Perdido; seven grandchildren; 12 step-grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; five step great-grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and her great best friend, Olga Smith.
Funeral services were held Jan. 16, 2018, at the Huxford Baptist Church with the Rev. Jimmy McDuffie officiating.
Burial followed at the Huxford Baptist Cemetery.
Visitation was held on Jan. 15, 2018, at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers were John McBride, Ian McBride, Kyle McBride, Scott Richardson, Mark Richardson and Daniel Scott.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes LLC of Atmore was in charge of all arrangements.
Melvin Findley
Mr. Melvin Findley, age 85, passed away on Thurs., Jan. 11, 2018, in Pensacola, Fla.
Mr. Findley was a native and life long resident of Century, Fla.
He was a registered nurse for 35 years with various local hospitals and nursing homes. He was a member of the Poplar Dell Baptist Church.
He is preceded in death by his wife of 49 years, Sarah Findley; granddaughter, Lori Simmons; great-granddaughter, Zoey Simmons; and two brothers, Paul Findley and Shorty Findley.
He is survived by his two daughters, Brenda Jernigan of Byrneville, Fla. and Cathy (Jacky) Smith of Flomaton; one sister, Sharon Hood of Brierfiled; one grandchild, Natasha Crapps of Molino, Fla; and two great-grandchildren, Jaden Simmons of Flomaton and Sarah Crapps of Molino.
Funeral services were held Jan. 14, 2018, at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. Mitch Herring officiating.
Burial followed at the Flomaton Cemetery.
Visitation was held Jan. 13, 2018, at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers were Eugene Findley, Danny Findley, David Findley, Larry Stuckey, Eric Dortch and Jake Wright.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes LLC of Atmore was in charge of all arrangements.
Annie P. Grimes
Funeral services for Miss Annie P. Grimes, 67, of Atmore, will be announced by Turner Funeral Chapel LLC.
Miss Grimes answered the Master’s Call in the early morning hours on Tues., Jan. 16, 2018, at Atmore Community Hospital.
Cassie M.F. Nichols
Willie Frye Jr.
Funeral services for Mrs. Cassie Mae Frye Nichols, 83, of Atmore and Mr. Willie Frye Jr., 73, of Atmore, will be held Sat., Jan. 20, 2018, at 1 p.m. at Grace Fellowship Church on Highway 31 in Atmore with Bishop Henry Frye Jr. of Camden officiating.
Retirement of their remains will be laid to rest in Stallworth Cemetery with Turner Funeral Chapel LLC directing.