Obituaries

Infant Goivanni D. Harris of Winnfield, passed away April 26, 2017. Burial was May 3, 2017.

Mianda Lynell Jackson, 48 of Winnfield, passed away April 21, 2017. Burial was April 29.

John Robert McElwee, Jr. (Bob), 69, the son of the late Dr. and Mrs. John R. McElwee of Winnfield, LA died Monday, April 10, 2017. He was born in Shreveport, LA on October 5, 1947 and was a former resident of Winnfield, LA. He had resided in Bossier City, LA since 1973. Bob will be remembered as a truly loving and caring person. He enriched the lives of his family and friends simply by his presence. Bob was a member of First United Methodist Church in Winnfield, LA. Bob is survived by his sister, Marsha McElwee Corbett of Shreveport, LA; two nieces, Megan Corbett Lingafelt and her husband Jordan of Kernersville, NC and Erin K. Corbett of Dallas, TX; one great-niece, Adelyn Isabelle Lingafelt of Kernersville, NC. and several special cousins. Graveside services were held at the Gwin Memorial Cemetery in Mangham, LA on Friday, April 14, 2017 with Rev. Marshall Sevier officiating.

Our precious joy, mom, and Mimi, Rose Long, 69, of Natchitoches died on April 30 at her home. Visitation will be at First Baptist Church in Natchitoches, LA on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, from 5:00 pm to 9:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at Prather Coliseum at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 4, 2017. Rose Marie Landry Long was born in Gueydan, Louisiana, on September 16, 1947, the fourth of five children born to Andy and Leontine Landry. She was born into a French-speaking Cajun family, and English was her second language. Rose graduated from Gueydan High School in 1965 and became the first person in her family to attend college. In her freshman year at Northwestern State University, while studying to be a French teacher, Rose met a handsome senior from Winnfield who would become the love of her life. Rose and Gerald Long married in 1966, the beginning of a love affair and partnership that would last 50 years.

Mrs. Nelda Marie Hyde Atkins, age 76 of Winnfield, Louisiana passed away on Thursday, April 20, 2017. Born Saturday, August 24, 1940 in Winnfield, Louisiana, she was preceded in death by her parents, Myrtis and Angie Shelton Hyde; husband, J.O. Atkins, Sr.; brother, Travis Hyde; niece, Sherry Jo Lowery. Those left to cherish her memory include her children, Teka Sanders, Vance Luther (Dwana) and Tracy Atkins; step children, J.O. Atkins, Jr. (Elaine), Monty Atkins (Marty) and Robert Atkins; 18 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren; siblings, Gene Hyde (Janice) and Doretha Hicks (Carol). Graveside funeral services were held at 1:00 PM on Sunday, April 23, 2017 at Gorham Town Cemetery with Rev. Norris Corry officiating. Interment followed under the direction of Southern Funeral Home of Winnfield. Serving the family as pallbearers were Jesse Mercer, Don Bordelon, T.J. Lashley, Roy Sanders, Leroy James, Landon Howell and John Clark and Bruce Desadier as honorary.

Merle Glynn Durham, son of the late Walt and Betty Durham, was born on December 9, 1947 in Astoria, Oregon while his dad was serving his country in the US Navy. Glynn passed away at the age of 69 on April 19, 2017 in Sewell, New Jersey after losing a lengthy battle to stomach cancer. Glynn was a 1966 graduate of Winnfield Senior High School. Although he never returned to live in Winn Parish, he always loved to come home to visit his family at “Durham’s Camp” in Central Louisiana. He loved the outdoors and being able to hunt in the pine forest and fish in his cypress filled Saline Lake. Glynn earned his Master’s degree from Harding University, School of Theology in Searcy, Arkansas. Glynn spent his entire life working for the Lord. Over the course of 50 years he served churches and people in New Jersey, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas. Wherever he was called, that is where he went.

Lennard Thomas Pimpleton, age 70 of Winnfield, LA passed away on April 12, 2017. Services were held April 19, 2017 in Winnfield.

Mr. DeWayne Jeffery “D.J.”Lambert, Sr., age 26 of Montgomery, Louisiana passed away on Sunday, April 9, 2017.Born Sunday, December 9,1990 in Natchitoches, Louisiana, he was currently employed in the logging industry with JKM Logging. “D.J.” will be remembered as a loving son, husband, daddy and brother who always had a smile to share.“D.J.” was preceded in death by his paternal grandmother, Univee Lambert and maternal grandmother, Sharan Knighten.

Mrs. Kimberly Francine Spangler Womack, age 36 of Sikes, Louisiana passed away on Saturday, April 15, 2017.Born Saturday, July 5, 1980 in Alexandria, Louisiana, she was a 1998 graduate of Winnfield Senior High School and a graduate of Winn Vo Tech with a degree in Business. She enjoyed gardening in her flowerbeds and rabbits. Most of all, she enjoyed fishing with her loving husband and traveling with her daughter, Jaicie to barrel races and horse shows and watching her play basketball and softball. Kim was preceded in death by her grandparents, James and Elena Spangler and Odell and Lillie Mae Jordan Coburn; aunts and uncles, Helen Spangler Key and Frances Spangler Stringer and Rodger Coburn and Joseph Spangler.

Mamie Elizabeth Melton Younger began her final rest on April 12, 2017, at home with family and friends, from complications following a stroke in February, 2016. Mamie was born August 11, 1928, in Winnfield, Louisiana, to Riley Clinton Melton and her namesake, Mamie Elizabeth Gelvin Melton, who died in childbirth. Until the age of three, Mamie was raised by her Aunt Brassie and Uncle “Paw” Crooks, before joining her father, three older brothers, Riley Bowman, James Edward, and William Huey Melton, and the woman Mamie knew as her “second mother,” Lilly Williams Melton, on the family farm. There, Mamie grew into the vivacious, caring person were member, a free spirit who had the unique gift of making everyone feel special and loved. Fulfilling a promise to her mother, Mamie’s father sent her to Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, where Mamie earned the distinction of serving as a “Purple Jacket” ambassador.