Mina Carolyn Washburn Buys passed away peacefully as she slept the night of July 22, 2014. She was a resident of Heritage House Nursing Home in Vicksburg.

She was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband of 42 years, C. T. “Sparky” Buys.

She is survived by her sons, Rusty (Vickie), Mark (Judy) and John (Sloan); grandchildren, David (Katie), Stephen (Anna), Talbot, Anne Elizabeth, Booth, Reed, Blair and Blythe Buys; great-grandchildren include Peter, Caleb, and one expected in November by Stephen and Anna; one sister, Betty Washburn Hayes of Sikeston, Mo.; and nieces and nephews.

Carolyn was a 1949 graduate of Marston High School in Marston, Mo., where she was a cheerleader and member of the volleyball team. She eloped with her high school sweetheart, Sparky, after graduation and moved to Vicksburg. She was a Vicksburg resident for the remainder of her adult life, except for two years when she moved to be near her oldest son, Rusty, and his family.

She worked as a sales clerk for merchants in old downtown Vicksburg and lived in the Aeolian Apartments until they bought their first home on Oak Street where they began their family. Carolyn later worked for several years as payroll clerk for the Vicksburg Hospital and then worked and helped her husband operate their family tire business, Discount Tires. After the business was sold, she worked several years at Versils in sales until retirement.

During these years, she raised her three sons with Sparky, and church attendance was not optional. Nightly prayer time was the norm for her household.

Her family was her hobby, and she attended hundreds of sporting events for her sons and later for her grandchildren, including a few pageants along the way. Holidays and birthdays were huge events, and preparing meals for the family was her specialty.

She now walks free of Alzheimer’s and hand in hand with her Savior.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 25, 2014, at Glenwood Funeral Home with Dr. Matt Buckles and Stephen Buys officiating.  Burial will follow at Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery.  Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today, and from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on Friday.

Pallbearers will be Stephen Buys, David Buys, Talbot Buys, Booth Buys, Reed Buys and Dr. Dan Edney. Honorary pallbearers will be the staff of Heritage House Nursing Home and Dr. Ron Cannon.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Vicksburg or the charity of your choice.