Eva Irene Beach passed on to be with her Lord and Savior on Sept. 6, 2016, at Heritage House. She was 89 years old.

She was born in Franklin County Jan. 6, 1927, moving to Vicksburg to be with her husband, James F. Smith Jr., in 1950. After his death in 1974, she remarried in 1978 to Willard Beach, who preceded her in death in 1994.

She was retired after enjoying a 31-year career with the Vicksburg-Warren School District and a 10- year career with the Old Courthouse Museum. She was a longtime member of Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church. She was attended to in her final days by the caring staff of Heritage House and her nurses, Irene Mayfield, Rebecca Curtis and Lindsey Theobald.

She was also preceded in death by her parents, Lane Ratcliff and Almeda Ratcliff; her three brothers, Elmo, Boyce and Lantis Ratcliff; her two sisters; Elaine Laird and Lorella Pickett; and her daughter, Barbara Ann McDowell.

She is survived by her brother, Lessley Hill Ratcliff; her brother and sister-in-law, Barnett and Silvia Ratcliff; her daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn Janis and Morris Glenn Keith; her four grandchildren and their spouses, Leslie and Jojo Grammer, Kasey and Sam Taylor, William Keith, and Kim and TJ McMillian; and her seven great-grandchildren, Emily Drake (Daniel), Matthew Davis, Samantha Taylor, Keith Taylor, Sadie Taylor, Laney McMillian, and Kayleigh McMillian.

Services will be Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, at 11 a.m. at Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church, 3468 Warriors Trail, with Elder Charles Holden officiating. Interment will follow at the church cemetery. Visitation will be at the church from 9:30 a.m. until the hour of service.

Pallbearers will be William Keith, Sam Taylor, Keith Taylor, Jojo Grammer, TJ McMillian, and Tommy Parker. Honorary Pallbearers will be Steve Coleman, Randy McCullum, Gordon Cotton, Dr. George Abraham, and the staff of Heritage House.