Hardy

IUKA — Funeral services for James “Hamburger” Hardy, 49, are set for 2 p.m. today at Cutshall Funeral Home Chapel in Iuka. Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery.

Mr. Hardy died Friday, March 5, 2010, at his residence. He was a member of Trinity Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by his father, Arville Hardy.

Survivors include his son, Jamie Hardy of Iuka; his mother, Evelyne Hardy of Iuka; and two sisters, Cindy Melton (Jonathan) of Cherokee, Ala., and Rebecca Faulkner of Tenn.

Bradford

Funeral services for Wesley Bradford, 78, were held Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010, at McPeters, Inc. Funeral Directors. Burial Followed at Henry Cemetery.

Mr. Bradford was born May 15, 1931, to Joseph Wesley Bradford and Mary Lou Viney Maness, on Harper Road in Alcorn County.

He started selling papers on the street of Corinth in about 1941, working for Klyee and Bishop. Later, he was a paper delivery boy with the largest route of the paper. He delivered 250 papers six days a week. His first customer was Dr. Fayette Williams at the corner of Fillmore and Main.

In 1945, he began to work inside the composing room, catching and counting papers off the press. He worked in the Corinthian composing room as pressman, linotype operator, mabe-up man, and shop foreman until 1958. Then, he worked for several newspapers across the U.S. until 1960, he went to work for the Fresno Bee in Fresno, Calif.

He finished high school in Corinth High School in the class of 1949. In 1950, he married Dottie Jean Phillips of the Farmington Community. With some of his school mates, Mr. Bradford joined the Mississippi National Guard, which was activated in January of 1951, during the Korean War. He served on active duty for 22 months.

After his Army experience, he came back to the Corinthian as a linotype operator and printer. Using his G.I. money, he enrolled in Northeast Junior College in 1953, where he received an associate’s degree and did a year or two of work on his B.A. degree.

Mr. Bradford earned his B.A. degree in Broadcast Journalism from Fresno State College in 1968, when his degree was singed by Ronald Reagan. He earned a Master of Education degree from Mississippi State University in 1974 and an English degree from Ole Miss in 1988. He was a certified Secondary Administrator the following year. He was certified by the State of Mississippi to teach Radio Broadcasting, Printing, Journalism, English and Social Studies. For 16 years he taught Radio Broadcasting at the Alcorn County Vocational Center at Corinth. He was a few hours away from his Doctoral degree.

He finished up his teaching career at Jumpertown High School, teaching Journalism, English, World History, American History and other Social Studies subjects.

Mr. Bradford was a Baptist. He served in several capacities, including Sunday School superintendent, deacon and many years as song leader and choir director. When necessary, on occasion, he played the piano for church services. He loved quartet singing, singing baritone and bass in the choir. He and his wife often sang duets.

Surviving are his wife, Dottie, of Corinth; a daughter, Jana Bradford Knight Ortiz and her husband, Leon, of Portland, Ore.; a son, Phillips Wesley Bradford and his wife Jill of Hebron, Ky.; one grandson, Joey Brandon Knight and his wife Jessica of Newberg, Ore.; two granddaughters, Kylee and Lyndsi Bradford of Hebron, Ky.; two great-grandchildren, Frances and Nolan Knight of Newberg, Ore.

He leaves also a host of friends in Corinth and Fresno, Calif.

Ricketts

Funeral services for SSG William Seth Ricketts, 27, will be held on Monday at noon at the Crossroads Arena in Corinth with burial to follow at the Corinth National Cemetery with full military honors.

SSG Ricketts died Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, at Bala Murghab, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was born on July 21, 1982 to William Craig and Sandi Hearn Ricketts. He wanted to be in the military since he was nine years old and on Sept. 11, 2001, he joined the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. After completing basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., he immediately entered Airborne training at Fort Bragg and was stationed there throughout his entire military service.

Along with his parents, he is survived by his wife, Rose Jones Ricketts; two children, William Aiden and Oliver Cullen and a child due in September; one sister, Tiffany Steed; one brother, Ben Ricketts; grandparents, Bill and Frankie Ricketts; father and mother-in-law, Bro. and Mrs. Warren Jones; two sisters-in-law, Katie Jones Davis and her husband Eddron and Sallie Jones; one brother-in-law, John Stuart Jones; grandmother, Carolyn Wagnon; four nephews; aunts; uncles; cousins and a host of friends.

Family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to: Seth Ricketts Memorial Fund, CB&S Bank, 200 South Harper Road, Corinth, MS 38834, (662) 284-9710.

Visitation will be held today, beginning at 5 p.m. at Memorial Funeral Home. There will be no visitation prior to services on Monday.