The Vicksburg Post prints obituaries in news form for area residents, their family members and for former residents at no charge. Families wishing to publish additional information or to use specific wording have the option of a paid obituary.

Janette DeGruchy Cutting

NORTON, Mass. — Janette DeGruchy Cutting of Norton, Mass., 46-year-old daughter of Nancy Orr of Vicksburg, died unexpectedly on Monday, Oct. 1, at the Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, Mass. She was the beloved wife of Christopher A. Cutting.

Born in Flushing, N.Y., on July 27, 1961, she was the sister of Donna Ruschewski of Yazoo City and James DeGruchy of Gulfport.

She was a 1979 graduate of Warren Central High School in Vicksburg and attended Mississippi State University.

A dedicated homemaker to her family, Janette had worked most recently for 10 years as an insurance analyst at the Hanover Insurance Company in Worcester, Mass.

A resident of Norton for the past 12 years, she was very active with Norton Pop Warner football and served the organization as a cheerleading coach for several years. She enjoyed alternative rock music. Her family will always remember her fantastic gourmet cooking skills and how she loved to entertain.

Besides her loving husband of 18 years and her mother and siblings of Mississippi, she is survived by her devoted children, Joshua A. Cutting and Jordan F. Cutting, both of the home; stepsister Stacy Maccio and stepbrother Jason DeGruchy, both of Connecticut; her maternal grandmother, Harriet Trausneck of Virginia; plus many nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.

Memorial services will be today, Oct. 6, in the Faith Alliance Church in Attleboro.

Visitation was Friday, Oct. 5, at the Norton Memorial Funeral Home in Norton.

In lieu of flowers, Janette’s family has requested that donations in her memory be made to Norton Pop Warner Football, P.O. Box 211, Norton, MA 02766.

Ivie Nell Bostick Naylor Lewis

TALLULAH — Services for Ivie Naylor Lewis will be at 2 p.m. today at Silver Cross Cemetery with the Rev. Kenneth Tew officiating. The family will receive visitors at 11 this morning at Mrs. Lewis’ home, 301 Garfield St. in Tallulah,.

Mrs. Lewis died Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007, at her home. She was 99.

Mrs. Lewis was born to the late Mr. and Mrs. Van Buren Bostick of Holly Ridge, La., and graduated from Rayville High School and St. Francis School of Nursing in Monroe. She served as a public health nurse for many years.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husbands, Lionel Z. Naylor Sr. and Col. James Coates Lewis; and a grandson, Matthew Pettis Naylor.

She is survived by a son, Dr. Lionel Z. Naylor Jr.; a sister, Estelle Mondey of Grove, Texas; six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to The Outreach Foundation, 318 Seabord Lane, Suite 205, Franklin, TN 37067.

Crothers-Glenwood in Tallulah has charge of arrangements.

William Henry Shields Jr.

William Henry Shields Jr., 92, died peacefully in the early hours of Dec. 18, 2006, at his home in Smithville, Texas, attended by his children. He was an upright and honest man of quiet, kindly and thoughtful disposition, generous to his family and friends, noted for almost unerring mechanical judgment and an inventive and inquiring mind. He was a proud and disciplined craftsman, skilled as a machinist, mechanic, welder, plumber, metal fabricator, builder, cabinetmaker and electrician. He particularly enjoyed making fine and delightful toys for neighborhood children.

Mr. Shields was born in Wilson, La., in 1914, the second of three children of Olive Anita Russum and William Henry Shields Sr. He was apprenticed in his youth as a machinist in the shops of the Illinois Central Railroad and was later schooled at General Motors, General Electric, Alco and other engine and locomotive manufacturers on behalf of Shell Oil Company, his employer for most of his working life.

In middle age, seeking to improve his education, he attended South Texas College at night for several semesters to study English composition, speech and psychology. Shortly before World War II and afterward until his retirement, Mr. Shields worked in Shell’s Deer Park Refinery, first as a mechanic and then as supervisor of the refinery’s automotive maintenance and repair shop. He was regarded by his peers as a particular expert in diesel engines and diesel/electric locomotives. At the time of his death, he was one of few men alive who knew from experience how to coal, stoke up and drive a 200-ton Baldwin or Alco steam locomotive.

On Jan. 29, 1938, Mr. Shields married Elizabeth Austin of Vicksburg, who preceded him in death in 1999. His last expressed wish was that his ashes be interred as closely as possible to those of his beloved wife of 61 years.

After Pearl Harbor was attacked, Mr. Shields refused to accept an exemption as a critical skills worker and voluntarily joined the Army Air Corps, taking his basic training at Ellington Field. Ordered to Aircraft Maintenance School at Amarillo Air Force Base, he graduated first in his class. Being given a choice of advanced schooling because of his class standing, he chose to go to Chanute Field, Ill., to study aircraft electrical systems. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the 470th Heavy Bomber Group of the Second Air Force at Mountain Home, Idaho, where he was promoted to Staff Sergeant, supervising the inspection and maintenance of B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. He was later transferred to the group’s base at Tonopah, Nev., where he taught the B-24s electrical systems to flight and maintenance crews.

Mr. Shields is survived by his son, William Henry Shields III of Carrollton, Texas, and daughter,

Elizabeth Ann Harris of Smithville; three grandsons; and several nieces. He was preceded in death by his elder sister, Adah Louise Hoerner of Vicksburg. Since his death, his younger sister, Juanita Pack of Payette, Idaho, has also died.

On Oct. 20 at 11 a.m., the Episcopal Burial Rite will be performed by Father Michael Nation, rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Episcopal, at the Austin family plot — Lot 8, Square 140, Division D — in Cedar Hill Cemetery (the old Vicksburg graveyard) in Vicksburg. The public may attend.

The children of Mr. Shields wish to thank their father’s hospice nurse, Tammy Bronson, for her unremitting kindness and faithful service.