Hancell G. Bankester died Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, at River Region Medical Center.  He was 75.

Born in Pensacola, Fla., Mr. Bankester was a former resident of Robertsdale, Ala., Jackson, and had been a resident of Vicksburg since 2001. He served in the U.S. Army and was a graduate of Howard College in Birmingham, Ala., and attended Johnson College in Knoxville, Tenn., and the University of Alabama. Mr. Bankester attended the Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky., and was a graduate of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  He served churches in Kentucky, Alabama and in Mississippi was pastor of the Westmont Christian Church in Jackson for a number of years and at the time of his death was pastor of the First Christian Church of Vicksburg.

Mr. Bankester was a loving husband and father; a devoted grandfather; a faithful pastor; a loyal friend and will be missed by all who knew him.

He was preceded in death by a son, Terrell Brent Bankester; his parents, Artemas and Gertrude Ganus Bankester; and a brother, Clinton Bankester.

He is survived by his wife, Lois Johnson Bankester of Vicksburg; two daughters, Brenda Donald and Carleen Singletary and her husband, Jeff, all of Madison; three granddaughters, Courtney Chance, Julie Donald and Catie Donald, all of Madison; a grandson, Zach Singletary, of Madison; a sister, Ruth B. Skaggs of Spanish Fort, Ala.; two brothers, Edward Bankester of Bay Minette, Ala., and Merrill Bankester of Loxley, Ala.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Riles Funeral Home with visitation beginning at 9 a.m. Burial will be at Parkway Memorial Cemetery in Ridgeland at 1:30 p.m.

Memorials may be made to First Christian Church, P.O. Box 820763, Vicksburg, MS 39182.

Pallbearers will be David Girard, David Wood, Randy Gay, Gerald Arnold, Gary Dill, Jeff Montgomery, Shelby Price and Walter Barker.