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.

Hazel K. Daily

Hazel K. Daily died Friday, March 7, 2008, at Vicksburg Convalescent Home. She was 85.

Mrs. Daily, a lifelong resident of Vicksburg, was a homemaker.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Kirby Daily; one daughter, Jo Ann Husbands; and one sister, Helen Wright.

Services will be at 4 p.m. Monday at Green Acres Memorial Park with the Rev. Kelly Dotson officiating. Visitation will be from 3 p.m. until the service at Glenwood Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital, University of Mississippi Hospital, 2500 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39216.

Ruby Louise Johnson

Ruby Louise Johnson of Biloxi died Thursday, March 6, 2008, in Osyka, Miss., where she was convalescing after carotid artery surgery. Cause of death has not been determined.

Miss Johnson, 69, was a woman of many talents, most of them self-taught.

At the top of her interests was heirloom sewing, pursued from childhood with a craftsman’s zeal. In recent years, Miss Johnson designed and hand-stitched original christening gowns and bonnets for each of her grandchildren. At her death, she was finishing gowns for twin grandchildren in their upcoming baptism.

She was a genealogy buff, proud of her family’s 200-year history in the Deep South. She shared the fierce temperament and sense of humor of her Scots-Irish forbears. She loved to scour old court files and census reports or tromp through cemeteries, in search of missing links in her family’s history. She was a painter, floral designer, Bingo player, theater patron and a voracious reader.

Miss Johnson was an independent, opinionated woman unafraid to start over in her career or life. She rallied from setbacks, including the loss of a child in 1986, the loss of her home in Hurricane Katrina and serious illnesses.

She was born Ruby Louise Jones on Jan. 27, 1939, in Osyka. She graduated as valedictorian from Osyka High School, obtained an associate’s degree from Southwest Mississippi Junior College and a bachelor’s degree in business education from Mississippi College.

For many years, she taught adult business education at the Hinds Community College vocational-technical center in Vicksburg. She also worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg.

After surviving a serious automobile accident that claimed her daughter’s life, Miss Johnson returned to college in her late 40s and refocused her life on helping others. She earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern Mississippi, joined the Veteran’s Administration social work service in Biloxi and became a licensed clinical social worker. She retired in 2004.

She was most proud of her children, quick to brag that both sons were attorneys and fond of showing off paintings by her daughter.

Miss Johnson was preceded in death by her parents, S.B. Jones and Jennie Lu Jones (Hart) of Osyka; her daughter, Jennie Katherine Johnson of Vicksburg; and a brother, S.B. Jones Jr.

Known as “Bebe” to her family, she is survived by sons, Hayes (Colleen) Johnson of Long Beach, and Chris Johnson of Bay St. Louis; grandchildren, Jacob and Kray Johnson of Bay St. Louis, and Hayes, Daley and Griffin Johnson of Long Beach; two beloved sisters, Kay (Buddy) Reynolds of Petal, and Johnny (Jerry) Craft of Osyka; nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends.

Miss Johnson was a member of the Church of the Redeemer in Biloxi; she was baptized at Osyka Baptist Church.

A funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, March 10, 2008, at Jones Family Funeral Services in McComb. Visitation will be from noon until 2 p.m., with a graveside prayer service to follow at Osyka Cemetery. A memorial service will be held on the Mississippi Gulf Coast at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that Miss Johnson be remembered with donations to the donor’s favorite charity.