Petal, MS – Graveside services will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 5, 2023, for James “Jay” Shirley Lewis, 97 of Petal, Mississippi at Green’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
He died Sunday, January 1, 2023, in Hattiesburg, MS, which was 22 years to the day after he buried his precious Louise.
Mr. Lewis was retired from the US Army and retired from Camp Shelby after 32 years of service to the National Guard. He was a member of Green’s Creek Baptist Church.
Anyone that knew him either called him “Jay”, “Jimmy” or “Lewis” depending on which stage of his life you met him. Everyone that spent time with him knew that he loved Barq’s Root Beers in the glass bottles, snickers and victrolas. He loved to tell stories of his boyhood growing up in Hattiesburg and working at his dad’s gas stations.
He was predeceased in death by his wife, Louise Fairley Lewis; his parents, B.C. Sr. and Lula Short Lewis; one brother B.C. Lewis, Jr., one sister, Maurice Tilghman and one grandson, Lamar Shepherd.
He is survived by two daughters, Shirley Lewis Anderson (James) and Rhonda Shepherd; two sons, Richie Lewis (Tracy) and Bill Dunn; three sisters, Carol Brock, Mary Katherine Lee, and Valerie “Pete” Moore; 9 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.
A “Root Beer Social” will be held immediately following the graveside service in the church fellowship hall until 6:00 p.m. Friends and family are invited to come and go even if they cannot attend the graveside service.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Green’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, 711 Old Richton Road, Petal, MS 39465
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.baldwinleepearl.com for the Lewis family.
