Obituaries

Rufus Byerly

Rufus Byerly, 89, of Jasper died April 24 at Nacogdoches Medical Center. Funeral services were held April 27 at Stringer and Griffin Funeral Home in Jasper, with burial following at Homer Cemetery.

Survivors include his wife Maxine Byerly of Jasper; sons Ted Byerly, Garland Byerly, John Byerly, all of Jasper, and Robert Byerly of Hondo; daughter Barbara Nash of Corrigan; 14 grandchildren and 12 greatgrandchildren.

Gilbert Cunningham

Gilbert Cunningham, 54, of Jasper died April 26 at Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont. Graveside services were held April 30 at Weeks Chapel Cemetery in Newton County under the direction of Forest Oaks Funeral Home of Jasper.

Survivors include his father A. W. Cunningham of Jasper; son Alan Cunningham of Muscogee, OK; daughters Kir- Shana Sowell of Jasper and Latisha Cunningham of Brookeland; sisters Carla Powell of Leesville, LA, and Dora Schell, Helen Brown and Shirley Shivers, all of Jasper; brother Dale Cunningham of Jasper; two grandchildren.

Hazel Cunningham

Hazel Cunningham, 76, of Jasper died April 27 at her home. Graveside services were held April 30 at Weeks Chapel Cemetery in Newton County under the direction of Forest Oaks Funeral Home of Jasper.

Survivors include her husband A. W. Cunningham of Jasper; son Dale Cunningham of Jasper; daughters Carla Powell of Leesville, LA, and Dora Schell, Helen Brown and Shirley Shivers, all of Jasper; sisters Rosie Mae Lynch and Zuma Warner, both of Jasper; Ann Jones of El Dorado, AR, and Ivy Lee Lowe of Burkeville; nine grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren.

Charlene Hancock Dickerson

Charlene Hancock Dickerson, 68, of Wiergate died April 15 at U.T.M.B. in Galveston. Funeral services were held April 20 at the Burkeville Baptist Church in Burkeville. Burial followed at Mattox Survey Cemetery under the direction of Stringer and Griffin Funeral Home of Jasper.

Survivors include her son Charles Dickerson Jr. of Lumberton; daughter Vicki Worry of Wiergate; brother Freeman Hancock of Jasper; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Opal Plake Martin

Opal Plake Martin, 89, of Houston died April 22 at her daughter's residence in Houston. Funeral services were held April 25 at Stringer and Griffin Funeral Home in Jasper, with burial following at Toledo Bend Cemetery.

Survivors include daughter Opal Nell Owen of Houston, brother John Richard Plake Jr. of Lumberton; sisters Emogene Stanley and Ann "Molly" Smith, both of San Antonio; eight grandchildren, twenty great-grandchildren, and seven great-great grandchildren.

Ronald Wayne Perego

Ronald Wayne Perego, 52, died April 28 at the Medical Center Hospital in Odessa. Services were held May 1 at Hubbard-Kelly Chapel in Odessa with burial following at Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Survivors include his wife Brenda Perego of Odessa; son Ronald Wayne Perego Jr. of Odessa; daughter Amanda Perego of Odessa; mother Maxine Stanley of Houston; brothers Arnold Lee Perego of Jasper and B. J. Perego of Beaumont; sister Tracy Perego of Jasper; and four grandchildren.

James W. Rea

James W. Rea, 94, of Burkeville died April 29 at Shady Acres Health and Rehabilitation Center in Center. Funeral services will be today, May 2, at 2 p.m. at Stringer and Griffin's FM 1414 Chapel in Burkeville, with burial following at Tanner Cemetery.

Survivors include his wife Lois Simmons Rea of Burkeville; daughters Glenda Smith of Hutto and Wanda Boyett of Newton; four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and seven step-great-grandchildren.

Minnie Cathey Scott

MInnie Cathey Scott, 100, of Jasper died April 26 at Katyville Health Care in Katy. Funeral services were held April 30 at Stringer and Griffin Funeral Home in Jasper, with burial following at Memorial Park Cemetery.

Survivors include daughter Iris Minnie Acord of Katy; one grandchild; five great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.

Ethelyne Snelson

Ethelyne Snelson, 94, of Fort Worth died April 25 in Jasper. Funeral services were held April 30 at Lucas Sylvania Funeral Chapel in Fort Worth, with burial following at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

Survivors include sons Bill Snelson of Jasper and David Snelson of Littleton, CO; sisters Opal Carter of Frankston and Geneva Pagitt of Grapevine; brother Wylie Costlow of Trophy Club; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.