Mr. Paul Ezell, age 92, died Feb. 25, 2009, at the McComb Hospital. Visitation is from 5 until 7 tonight at Glenwood Funeral Home in Vicksburg. Services will be at Glenwood at 10 a.m. Saturday with the Rev. Kevin Marr officiating. Burial will be at Green Acres Memorial Park.

Born Willie Paul Ezell in Franklin County, Miss., on Aug. 30, 1916, to Albert “Abe” and Dochia Emfinger Ezell, he married Grace Dungan Ezell in 1936. He joined the National Guard and was called up to active service on May 14, 1940, with the Dixie Division. He served as a platoon sergeant in New Guinea and the Southern Philippines, where he was wounded and received the Purple Heart as well as the Bronze Star. He was honorably discharged as a technical sergeant of Company E, 124th Infantry on Sept. 10, 1945.

After the war he worked for American Optical, then for Odom Optical and, lastly, with the Corps of Engineers, where he retired. He and his wife loved to hunt and fish as long as they were able. He was a member of Oak Ridge Baptist Church.

He is survived by his wife, Grace Ezell of Vicksburg; his daughter, Nancy Watson of Summit, Miss.; grandchildren, David Sullivan and Rachel Brumfield; and four great-granddaughters, Amelia, Marion, DeLeslyn and August, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers will be Harold Hollingsworth, John Rundell, Rudy Ezell, Jerry Yocum, Luther Warnock and Sherman Hull.