Stories from Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Willa Bertha Veasley, 76 of Osceola, was born May 21, 1945 in Tuscumbia, Ala., to Calvin and Sylvia Speed Freeman. She was the first of five children born to their union. Willa Bertha accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior under the leadership of Pastor N.D. Timmerman and was an active member of Promiseland Church of God In Christ under the leadership Pastor Johnny Moore. Willa Bertha was a graduate of Rosenwald High School...

Stephanie Suzzane Claybrooks, 47, of Osceola passed away Nov. 9, 2021 at her residence. She was a homemaker and a member of St. John Full Gospel Church in Osceola. Ms. Claybrooks was born Feb. 6, 1974, in Osceola to Bobby Ray Claybrooks and Marilyn Ransom Carter. She was preceded in death by her father, Bobby Ray Claybrooks; one brother, Barry Johnson; and one sister, Ursula Johnson...

Tavis Edward Smith, 39, of Osceola passed away Nov. 4, 2021, at his residence. He was of the Christian faith. Mr. Smith was born Dec. 6, 1981, in Blytheville to Ira Lee and Brenda Fay Coleman Smith. He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by two sons, Tyre Smith and Tyreounce Smith of Elkhart, Ind.; two daughters, Samya Marie Allen and Taliah Smith of Elkhart, Ind.; one brother, Ira Deshawn Smith of Osceola; two sisters, Tequesta Sherri Oliver of Blytheville and Caprice Tion Smith of Luxora; grandparents, Mary Lee Jones of Osceola, Nettie Coleman of Luxora; and one special aunt, Sharmane Travis of Osceola.. ...

Mary Merle Earwood, 79, of Fayetteville, Ga., formerly of Osceola passed away Nov. 14, 2021 at her residence. She was a retired CNA and a member of Panhandle Baptist Church in Hampton, Ga. Ms. Earwood was born April 1, 1942, in Holukie, Miss., to John Russell and Myrtle Collins McCammon. ...

Bernice Woodard was born Oct. 12, 1945, to the late Evan Woodard and Betty Smith Woodard in Drew, Mississippi. She departed this life on Nov. 13, 2021, at the age of 76, at Great River Medical Center in Blytheville. She was preceded in death by her parents...

Matthew Dewayne Painter, 50, of Sardis, Miss., passed away Nov. 10, 2021, at Baptist Memorial Hospital North Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. Matthew, better known by everyone he knew as "Buddy," was born Dec. 20, 1970, in Blytheville to Dwayne and Shirley Painter. ...

A victim and an alleged assailant are in critical but stable condition after both were shot on the Interstate 55 exit ramp on Exit 63 near South Division in Blytheville on Tuesday afternoon, according to Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson. According to Thompson, the victim was pulled over on the exit ramp when he was assaulted and shot by a transient...