Sara F. Sharpe Baker Singleton

Services for Sara F. Sharpe Baker Singleton, 76, a resident of Banks, who died Sunday, March 11, 2007, will be at 11 a.m. today at Macedonia Baptist Church with Dr. Matt Helms officiating.

Burial will follow in the church cemetery under the direction of Gray Funeral Home.

Visitation was from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack Baker; grandchild, Markie Baker; great-grandchild, Travis Baker; brother, Jessie M. Sharpe; and sister, Mary McFerrin.

She is survived by her husband, Renaldo Singleton of Banks; three sons, David Baker of Banks, Mark Baker of Troy and Wayne Baker of Josie; daughter and her husband, Sandra and Herman Rotton of Almeria Community; eight grandchildren, Jason and Amanda Baker, Richard and Jennifer Baker, Wendy and Jimmy Ballard, Mark and Holly Brown, Deanna and Manuel Strickland, Mashay Baker, Trisha Baker and Shawn Baker; several great-grandchildren; two sisters, Nellie Faulkner of Almeria Community and Flora and Sam Reeves of Pike Road; brother, Otha and Hazel Sharpe of Stills X Roads; sister-in-law, Beatrice Sharpe; and a brother-in-law, Frank McFerrin of Union Springs.

Pallbearers will be Mark Brown, Jimmy Ballard, Manuel Strickland, Kevin Faulkner, Billy Wood and Robert Henderson.

The Rev. Julius Kennedy

Funeral Services for the Rev. Julius Kennedy, who died Tuesday, March 6, at Stabler Hospital in Greenville, will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church with Dr. L.C. McMillian, pastor, and the Rev. William Davis Jr. officiating.

Burial will follow at the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy with George F. Grubbs Funeral Home handling final arrangements.

The Rev. Julius Kennedy was born May 26, 1927, in Sarasota, Fla. to the late George and Vergie Kennedy.

Mr. Kennedy spent his childhood years in Butler. He often reminisced about his days of hunting, farming, fishing, snakebites and those tall tales of how long he had walk to school in the bitter cold. His travels after childhood involved two tours of duty in the U.S. Army, including travel abroad. His specialties were photography and auto mechanics. Upon receiving an honorable discharge, he perused a college career during which he met his future bride, Carrie Morris and later united in Holy Matrimony in 1950.

After college, Mr. Kennedy gained employment at the Academy Street High School as a Vocational Agriculture teacher. There have been numerous stories that his students have told over the years about their experiences in Mr. Kennedy's class. Everybody's child was his child. Mr. Kennedy retired from teaching at Charles Henderson High School and was called to a higher calling - the ministry.

Mr. Kennedy accepted the Lord as his personal savior at an early age. He and his family joined the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. Even though the rest of the family went their separate ways, Mr. Kennedy remained a faithful member of the Morning Star Baptist Church until his death.

Mr. Kennedy has inspired many souls through his teaching and preaching the Gospel at New Zion Baptist Church, Beulah Hill Missionary Baptist Church and Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church.

His parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Kennedy, and a brother, Ewell Kennedy, preceded Mr. Kennedy in death.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carrie Morris Kennedy; two sisters, Rose Kennedy of Detroit, Mich., and Ethene Davis of Los Angeles, Calif.; two brothers, George (Bernice) Kennedy and Limmie (Edith) Kennedy, both of Cincinnati, Ohio; five children, Gail Miner, Julius Kennedy Jr., Sylvia (William) Davis and Michael Kennedy, all of Troy, and Pamela (Ed) Brooks of Memphis; seven grandchildren, Julia Natasha Kennedy, Andrea Siler, Alisha Siler, Lyle Miner, Carrie Crawford, Monica Siler and Anthony Siler; an adopted granddaughter, Hope Siler-Lee; six great-grandchildren; and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.