Charles Maxwell Sudduth

Charles Maxwell Sudduth, 94, died on Saturday, February, 19, 2011, at St. Catherine’s Village, Madison, Mississippi. Visitation will be held on Monday, February 21, 2011, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and on Tuesday, February 22, 2011, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at First Presbyterian Church of Jackson. Services will be conducted at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 22, 2011, at First Presbyterian Church. Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Sudduth was born on January 10, 1917, in Pontotoc, Mississippi, to Claude and Zana Sudduth. His father died when Charles was a young boy, and Charles and his two brothers were then raised solely by their mother in the Bissell community near Tupelo. He graduated from Tupelo High School. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi, where he was provided room and board in the local Presbyterian minister’s home (now known as the historic Walton-Young home on the Ole Miss campus) in exchange for milking the minister’s cows and keeping the home’s coal bins full.

Charles proudly served his country in the United States Army as a member of the Signal Corps and did tours in France, Italy and other parts of Europe during World War II. He was employed for thirty years as comptroller of Mills Morris Automotive in Jackson until his retirement in 1982. Charles earned his law degree from Jackson School of Law by attending night school while working full-time at Mills Morris and raising his family. Beginning prior to his retirement and continuing until his death, he was active in, and greatly enjoyed, acquiring, renovating and managing rental properties in the Jackson area.

Mr. Sudduth was a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson for over sixty years, where he was active in the Couples Sunday School class, the Saturday morning men’s prayer group, ushering, and many other church activities.

He married Gladys Oree Baxter in 1947, and they were married for forty-two years until her death in 1989. He married Martha Hand Howell in 1992, who survives him. He is also survived by his son, Charles Maxwell Sudduth, Jr. (Karina); his daughter, Joyce Sudduth Cannada (Don); step-son, Louis W. Howell II (Linda); step-daughter, Nanolyn Howell Smail (Virgil); five grandchildren, Lauren Cannada Lomax (Christopher), Ray Baker Cannada (Cathy), Baxter Lewis Cannada, Camille Jacqueline Cannada, and Elizabeth Sudduth Eveland (Dan); four step-grandchildren, Louis W. Howell III (Dajah), Cardelia Howell-Diamond (Steven), Robert Smail and Tyler Smail; one brother, Paul Allen Sudduth (Ione); a sister-in-law, Doris Baxter; and numerous nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his brother, Herschel Cochran Sudduth.

Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 1390 North State Street, Jackson, Mississippi 39202, or Palmer Home, P.O. Box 746, Columbus, Mississippi 39703.