Funeral services for James Edward Smith Sr. will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 24, 2010, at Triumph Church with Pastor Mike Fields officiating. Burial will be at Cedar Hill Cemetery under the direction of Williams Funeral Service. Visitation will be held from 4 until 6 p.m. Friday at Triumph Church.

Pallbearers will be Sullivan Caldwell, James Cooley, Richard Ellis, Glen Hicks Sr., Troy Lindsey, Glennard M. Warren, Michael Washington and Abe Wesley.

Honorary pallbearers will be Darryl Carson, Thomas Carson, Rufus McKay Jr., Don Smith, James Ervin Smith, Robert D. Smith, Billy Ray Warren and Norman Warren.

James Edward Smith Sr. died Thursday, July 15, 2010, at his home. He was 63.

Mr. Smith was a retired registered professional land surveyor and a member of Triumph Church. He was a graduate of Rosa A. Temple High School, class of 1965. He graduated from Jackson State University, class of 1969, with a degree in mathematics and a minor in physics. After college, he began his career teaching in the public school system. Later, he pursued a career in surveying. He worked with Michael Baker Engineering Inc., Elmer Jones Engineering Inc. and Buford Evans Surveying. He later, as an entrepreneur, started his own business, J.E.S. Surveyors Inc., before retiring in 2001. He was one of the first African-American registered land surveyors in Mississippi. He was also a past member of the MS Association of Professional Surveyors.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John Lewis Smith Sr. and Emma Lee Robinson-Smith; and brother, John Lewis Smith Jr.

Survivors include his wife, Sherry Ann Smith-Smith of Vicksburg; a son, James Edward Smith Jr. of Vicksburg; two daughters, Dr. Jami Adrianne Smith of Amarillo, Texas, and Emily Anderson-Lee of Monroe, La.; a sister, Delores Smith-Nichols of Vicksburg; a brother, William Henry (Landa) Smith of Dover, Del.; five aunts, Birdie Spencer and Gloria R. Davenport, both of Vicksburg, Cecile Wheatley of Springfield, Ill., and Mary Louise Hawks and June Griffin, both of Rockford, Ill.; and a host of other relatives consisting of cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.