Obituaries – Sept. 19, 2013

Dorothy Harvey Beeler

OXFORD—Dorothy Harvey Beeler went to her heavenly home, there to be forever in the presence of her Lord, Monday, September 9, 2013.
    Born July 6, 1921, in Paris, she was a daughter of the late Claude Harvey and Josie Inda Palmer Harey. She received the AE from Northwest Community College, where she played on the women’s basketball team. She earned her BAE and MAE from the University of Mississippi and was a retired elementary school teacher. She was married for 51 years to Rev. Earl Beeler and she served beside him as a faithful pastor’s wife in 19 churches across the United States.
    They were parents of five children: Diana Beeler Hogan (Joey), Earl Harvey Beeler (Donna), Jerry Lee Beeler (Wilma), Mark F. Beeler (Robbie), and Rebekah Beeler Babb (Rickey).
    Mrs. Beeler began her teaching career at O’Tuckolofa School and was a lifelong educator, having retired from teaching in 1975. She also spent many years as a liaison to international students from Ole Miss, teaching them English as a second language. She continued to teach Sunday school to women even after her 92 birthday. Her passion for missions compelled her to spread the gospel in Central and South America. Mrs. Beeler devoted her life to sharing her faith with everyone, especially her family in whom she delighted. Her greatest desire was for everyone in her family to serve and walk with Christ.
    The funeral service was held in New Prospect Baptist Church at 10 a.m. Friday, September 13. Waller Funeral Home of Oxford had charge of arrangements.
     She is preceded in death by her husband, Earl, and grandsons, Christopher Allen Beeler and Joe Jim Hogan III (Tres). Left to grieve her loss are grandchildren, Inda Hogan Linzy (Shayne), Olivia Babb Russom (Chad), Matthew Babb, Nathan Babb (Holley), all of Oxford, Brooks Beeler (Melissa), Patrick Beeler (Amanda), Jonathan Beeler (Amber) of Lindale, Texas, Cody Beeler (Angela) of Waco, Texas, Andy Beeler of Lubbock, Texas, Sarah Beeler Golden (Barrett) of Kansas City, Missouri, Daniel Beeler (Amelia) of Gadsden, Ala., and Emma Grace Beeler of Tuscaloosa, Ala.; 20 great-grandchildren; and  two great-great-grandchildren.

Roland Eugene Buppert, Jr.

ARIZONA—Roland Eugene Buppert, Jr.. passed on to eternal life on September 14, 2013, peacefully in his sleep.
   Born July 23, 1926, he had lived a life in which he valued friendship and fellowship always above prosperity.
  He served in World War II in the European Theater of Operations under General Patton and returned home to become a typewriter repairman and eventually owned his own business in Miami, Fla. He married Virginia Berghius in 1959 and fathered his only child, Bill Buppert, whom he cared for and nurtured even after he divorced from his sole marriage in life. He “retired’ in 1975 to become a landscaper and eventually returned to live with is son in his twilight years.
     Roland was what some would term as eccentric and others as possessing all his marbles but keeping them in separate jars. He may have painted his ancient cars with house paint, lost his eyebrows and singed his hair while burning trash or squeezed nickels until they screamed, but he never hesitated to lend a hand or help those in need. His son even tutored him in surfing in Hawaii at age 58, where he insisted proper surfing could only be conducted when one “turtled” on the board by clinging with all limbs on the surfboard while upside down and underwater.
    He had a heart the size of Montana and a giving nature that everyone should envy and emulate. He never doubted those he loved and always offered unconditional love to friends and family.
     He found himself living in Water Valley with his son at the end of the 1990s and remained there after his military son and family transferred overseas. His second family in the “Valley” took him in like their own and he became a fixture in the lush and rich social ecosystem that is rural Mississippi. Often walking several miles into town from his rural homestead to chat up friends and socialize with his neighbors, Roland always had a kind heart, a new joke and a big verve for living that put a smile on the face of everyone who knew and loved him.
     He loved to listen to the radio and had a masterful knowledge of current politics and worldly affairs that astonished those he met. Roland loved Big Band and Great American Songbook and would regale you with stories of rubbing shoulders with Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra in Miami in the 1950s, when he was servicing the typewriters of everyone there from the Coast Guard to the mob at their businesses. He was never a man of means or property and believed that acts of kindness made a man rich beyond imagining. Roland was a wealthy man, indeed. He was a prince and a pauper.
     Over time, unable to continue living alone and needing care and assistance, he return to his home in Arizona to live with the family and his beloved grandchildren.
    He is survived by his child and five grandchildren, whose photos he would share with new and old friends alike whenever he got the chance. Survivors are his only child, Bill Buppert; his daughter-in-law, Lilo; and his five grandchildren, Kyle, Kiri, Connor, Chloe, and Keegan. He will always be loved and cherished.
     In lieu of flowers the family asks that you make donations to Bethel Baptist Church in Water Valley.
    Son Bill is still in Afghanistan and Mr. Roland will be cremated in Arizona. His remains will be flown to Water Valley in January for interment in Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery.

Marjorie Spencer

WATER VALLEY—Marjorie Spencer, 88, died September 9, 2013, at her home in Water Valley.
    She was born March 17, 1925. Mrs. Spencer was retired from Emerson Electric. She was a member of Bayson Chapel M.B. Church, where she was a member of the Mother Board until her health failed. She enjoyed cooking and spending time with her family.
    The funeral was held Sunday, Sept.15, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Water Valley City Auditorium, with Rev. Amos Sims officiating. Burial was in Bayson Chapel Cemetery.
     She is survived by her husband, Robert Spencer, Jr. of Water Valley; four daughters, Dicy Marie Spencer and Sandra Bland, both of Water Valley, Willie Maude S. Horton and Melzinna S. Cornolly, both of Chicago; and a son Robert B. Spencer of St. Louis, Missouri.
    Clark-Williams Funeral Home of Grenada had charge.