John Leigh Hyland III, 89, of Vicksburg, died on Oct. 29, 2020, at home in Yokena surrounded by his family. Born on April 5, 1931, in Vicksburg to the late John Leigh Hyland Jr. and Ceress Bobb Hyland, John Leigh grew up in Yokena graduating from Carr Central High School in 1949.

John Leigh attended Hinds Junior College and graduated from Mississippi State University in 1953 with an agriculture business degree. While at Mississippi State, John Leigh was a member of Kappa Alpha Order. He later attended graduate school at Louisiana State University. John Leigh was a lifelong Mississippi State Bulldog fan and a member of the Mississippi State Warren County Alumni Association.

From 1953 to 1955, John Leigh served in the United States Army as a private First Class with one deployment to Okinawa, Japan. He was an agent with Southern Farm Bureau Insurance for 43 years, receiving many awards and honors including Agency of the Year Warren County in 1992, 2000 and 2001.

John Leigh was a life-long member of Yokena Presbyterian Church where he was baptized as an infant and served as ruling elder for many years. He was a Mason of the Hyland-Jarmon Masonic Lodge, past director for Delta Council and achieved Life Master in the American Contract Bridge League. He was president of Vicksburg Warren County Association of Life Underwriters from 1968 to 1969, and also received Underwriter of the Year in 1988. He received the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District Wildlife Award in 1993, the Excellence Award from Delta Council in 2002, and the Ducks Unlimited Vicksburg Chapter Sportsman of the Year award in 2003. John Leigh was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed being the steward of his family farm.

John Leigh was preceded in death by his parents, John Leigh Hyland Jr. and Ceress Bobb Hyland; and his sister, Ceress Hyland Newell. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Dee Trammell Hyland; his daughters, Fawn Hyland Keen (Rusty), Jan Hyland Daigre (Bubba) and Leigh Hyland (Mit York); his grandchildren, Steven Keen Hyland (Mary Paige), Suzanna Keen Hyland, Wilson Keen Hyland (Elizabeth), Dana Hamilton (Clint), Heath Daigre (Brittney), Claiborne Cooksey (Kurt), Adele York, Hannah York; and seven great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers are Steven Keen Hyland, Wilson Keen Hyland, Heath Daigre, Kurt Cooksey, Clint Hamilton, Tim Hunter, Parker Newell and Brad Newell. Honorary pallbearers are Emmett and Camille Atwood, Mark Chaney, Sandy and Anne Newell, Patricia Simrall, Mike Mikell, Bud Smith, John Carlisle, and Lonnie and Lavada Stevens.