Dorothy Johnson Allan
Brewton

Mrs. Dorothy Johnson Allan, 85, died at home following a valiant battle with cancer on Oct. 21, 2014.
Born in Toledo, Ohio on Sept. 10, 1929, she moved to Brewton in 1966.
She is survived by three children, Sandy Townsend, Marcia (Eddie) Nowlin and Johnny (Marcia) Allan; six grandchildren, Holli (Jerry) Hawsey, Will ( Melissa) Townsend, Jeri (James) Shaffer, Jeff (Carol) Nowlin, Sara Allan and Jessica Allan; 10 great-grandchildren, Taylor, Hayden, and Anna Beth Hawsey, Zac, Tyson and Claire Townsend, Caleb, Levi, Maggie and Ben Shaffer; a sister, Mary Lou (Bob) Faggella of Sacramento, Calif.; sisters-in-law, Nancy Johnson of Tyler Texas, Susie (Norman) Michaels of Chattanooga, Tenn., Martha (Tom) Owens of Guild, Tenn.; and brother-in-law Jere (Adeline) Allan of Blythe, Calif.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Hayden Allan; her parents, Lucy and Henry Johnson; a son-in-law, Billy Townsend; a sister, Helen Wickham and a brother, Richard Johnson.
She loved her family, taking great pride in the accomplishments, both great and small, of each child, grandchild and great-grandchild.
An avid reader, she enjoyed crossword puzzles, young children and the elderly. She was known to welcome and feed many stray young people who were brought home by her children and grandchildren through the years.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. on Fri., Oct. 24, at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with Father Adrian Cook officiating.
Burial followed in Union Cemetery Brewton, with Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Homes directing.
Condolences may be sent and obituaries can be read at williamsmemorialchapel.com.

Charles ‘Bill’
Lindberg Crawley
Century, Fla.

Charles Lindberg “Bill” Crawley, 87 of Century, Fla., died Wed., Oct. 22, 2014, at his home.
He was born in Fish Pond and was a lifetime member of the Century Community.
During his working years, he worked for St. Regis Paper Co. in the wood yard. He was a veteran having served in the United States Army, a member of First Baptist Church of Century.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Hazel Bates Crawley of Century; sons, Steve Crawley of Century, and Jeffrey (Cathy) Crawley of Byrneville, Fla. a special nephew, James White; daughters, Charlotte (Glenn) Johnson and Cynthia Crawley (Terry) Owens, both of Flomaton; sisters, Betty Faye (Orria) Stuckey of Byrneville; 11 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
He is preceded in death by his parents, J.B. and Dora Irene Findley Crawley Sr.; a brother, J.B. Crawley Jr.; and sisters, Ruby Jewel Yaden and Willene Taylor.
Funeral services were held on Mon., Oct. 27, at 11 a.m. at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Nathan Crawley, Bro. David Boyd, and Bro. Peter Crawley officiating.
Burial followed in Catawba Cemetery, Keego with Flomaton funeral Home directing.
Pallbearers were Daniel Johnson, John Crawley, Peter Crawley, Terrance ‘T.J.’ Owens, Nathan Crawley and Kyle Owens.
Share your memories and condolences with the family at flomatonfh.com.

Mary Lois Killam
Century, Fla.

Mrs. Mary Lois Killam, 88 of Century, Fla., died Wed., Oct. 22, 2014, in a local hospital.
She was a native of Little Rock, Ala., and had been a long time member of the Century Community where she was a homemaker and attended First Baptist Church of Bratt, Fla.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Riley and Annie Childress Glover; her husband, Price Killam; and her brother, Earl Glover.
She is survived by a son, Joe (Shelia) Fuller of Lottie; a daughter, Shelia Killam (Buddy) Trawick of Century; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Graveside services were held at Flomaton Cemetery on Sat., Oct. 25, at 10:30 a.m. with Bro. Delbert Reddick and Bro. Chris Pruitt officiating and Flomaton Funeral Home directing.
Share your memories and condolences with the family at flomatonfh.com.

Muriel Hester
Hammac Steele
Bay Minette

Mrs. Muriel Hester Hammac Steele, 82, died Tues., Oct. 21, 2014, at her residence.
She was a native of Brewton, and a resident of Bay Minette. She was a retired coordinator for the Adult Basic Education for Mobile County Schools.
She was preceded in death by a daughter, Della Lambert; one sister, Eunice Day; and two brothers, Melvin Hammac and Hubert Hammac
She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Bernie H. Steele of Bay Minette; her children, Dr. Darrell Bernie (Mary Lynne) Steele of Okemos, Mich. and Donna Dru (Brian) Campbell of Chunchula; one sister, Doris Crutchfield of Brewton; nine grandchildren, Peyton Arnaud, Seth Steele, Brentt Campbell, Brian Keith Campbell, Nichole Acree, Onna Coots, Kimberli Coots, Heather Hale and Timothy Magee; and eight great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held on Fri., Oct, 24, at 11 a.m. at the chapel of Norris Funeral Home in Bay Minette with Dr. Chip Starnes officiating. Burial followed at Hanberry Cemetery in Brewton, with Bro. Ricky Elliott officiating and Norris Funeral Home directing.
Online condolences may be made at norrisfuneralservice.com.

James Earl “Fuzz” Fuqua
Brewton

James Earl “Fuzz” Fuqua, 63, of Barrentine Road, Brewton, passed away early Friday morning, Oct. 24, 2014, in a Pensacola, Fla., hospital after a brief illness.
He was a native and life long resident of Escambia County. He was a member of the Bethel Community Church and a retired truck driver from the Escambia County (Ala.) Road Department.
He is survived by his wife, Jean Joyner Fuqua of Brewton; and one son, James Coleman Fuqua of Brewton.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Coleman and Ethel Fuqua; and three brothers, Rankin Fuqua, Charlie Fuqua and Derryl Fuqua.
Funeral services were held Sun., Oct. 26, at 3 p.m. at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. John Kemp officiating. Interment followed in Bethel Cemetery in Brewton with Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home of Brewton officiating.
Condolences may be sent and obituaries can be read at williamsmemorialchapel.com.

Lanita Lucille
Meadows
East Brewton

Lanita Lucille Meadows, 67, passed away Mon., Oct. 27, 2014, at her East Brewton residence.
She was born in Moultrie, Ga., and had been a resident of East Brewton for the past 17 years, coming from Archer, Fla.
She worked as a secretary at First United Methodist Church of Brewton and was a member of First Church of the Nazarene in East Brewton.
She is survived by her husband, James A. Meadows of East Brewton,; three daughters, Carla (Richard) McGhee of Port Saint Joe, Fla., Sandi (Jeff) Carlson of Brewton, and Nancee (Bret) DeHoff of Brewton; and eight grandchildren, Dillin McGhee, Lexie McGhee, Abigail Carlson, Christian Carlson, Travis Carlson, Tyler DeHoff, James Colby DeHoff and Leah DeHoff.
Funeral services will be held today, Wed., Oct. 29, at 3 p.m. at the First Church of the Nazarene in East Brewton with Dr. Mark Berry and Rev. Herbert Heller officiating. Interment will follow in Union Cemetery.
Visitation will be held at the First Church of the Nazarene one hour prior to the service.
Pallbearers will be Coy Whitehead, Clyde Godwin, Dillin McGhee, Tyler DeHoff, Christian Carlson and Travis Carlson.
Share your memories and condolences with the family at craversfh.com.

Carole Ann McCall Tompkins
East Brewton

Carole Ann McCall Tompkins, 54, of Liles Street East Brewton, passed away early Saturday morning, Oct. 25, 2014, at her residence after a brief illness.
She was a native and long time resident of Escambia County. She was a member of the East Brewton Assembly of God Church, a former LPN at D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital, and a sales associate in the retail sales industry.
She is survived by her father, Earl McCall of Brewton; her mother, Johnnie Faye Howell of Brewton; her husband, Richard Tompkins of East Brewton; six sons, Bobby Dickerson of Brewton, Earl Dickerson of Brewton, Reid Dickerson of Jacksonville, Fla., Jamey Tompkins of East Brewton, Andrew Tompkins of East Brewton, and Richard Terry Tompkins Jr. of East Brewton; one brother, Dammon McCall of Fort Myers, Fla,; two sister, Sandi McCall Hodge of Yukon, Okla., and Crystal Vigilante of Panama City, Fla.; and five grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her grandparents, John Edward and Florence Blackmon.
Visitation will be held Thurs., Oct. 30, from 1 until 2 p.m. at the East Brewton First Assembly of God Church in East Brewton.
Funeral services will follow at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Jeff Scurlock officiating. Interment will follow in Dixonville Cemetery in Brewton, with Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home of Brewton directing.
Condolences may be sent and obituaries read at williamsmemorialchapel.com.

Janie Lorene Douglas Jeffers
Wing

Janie Lorene Douglas Jeffers, 80, of Jeffers Drive, Wing, passed away Mon. Oct. 27, 2014 in Tuskegee, after a brief illness. She was a native and life long resident of Wing. Jeffers was a member of the Red Oak Baptist Church and a homemaker.
She is survived by two brothers, Noah (Louise) Douglas of Wing and Troy (Edna) Douglas of Wing; one sister, Charlotte Baird of Boaz; several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by five brothers, Jimmy Douglas, Henry Douglas, Preston Worrell, Ingram Douglas and Lethon Douglas; two sisters, Martha Jones and Virgie Cook; and husband, James E. Jeffers.
Visitation will be held tonight from 6 until 8 at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home of Brewton. Funeral services will be held on Thurs., Oct. 30, at 10 a.m., at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. Ronnie Sales officiating. Interment will follow in Dixonville Cemetery with Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home of Brewton directing.
Condolences may be sent and obituaries can be read at williamsmemorialchapel.com.

Bernice Johnson Sims
Brewton

Christmas Day 1926 in the Hickory Hill community near Georgiana started the life and legacy of Bernice Johnson Sims. She was the special Christmas gift for Essie Bell Presley Johnson and Robert Johnson, the oldest of eight children.
Sims, a true pioneer, an unsung heroine, beloved mother, sensational sister, adored grandmother and great-grandmother, awesome aunt, favorite cousin, unselfish friend, and cherished mother-in-law completed her journey on Thurs., Oct. 23, 2014.
Funeral services will be held on Thurs., Oct. 30, at 2 p.m., at Piney Grove Cemetery in Brewton, with Pastor Eric T. Andrews officiating and Presley Fluker Funeral Home directing.
Visitation will be held tonight from 5-6 at Presley Fluker Funeral Chapel in Brewton.
She was married to the late Willie James Sims Sr. Their union was blessed with six children. She raised her family in Brewton. A true Proverbs 31 virtuous woman, she worked hard to provide for her family in many positions – private home, office work, insurance agent, nurses aide, and poll worker – until her health failed her in 2012.
She was a member of the Baptist Hill Baptist Church and OES Lilly Chapter No. 592.
She was actively involved in Alabama politics including the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, coordinating the activities of the NAACP in Brewton in secret because the organization at the time was outlawed by the state.
She participated in the beginning of the voting rights marches. She recalled being turned away from the polls because she was black, being given ridiculously long and difficult forms to fill out before she could vote, and being forced to pay a poll tax. She was one of the first to enroll her children in the formerly all-white public schools in her community. She witnessed the violence and heartbreak as well as the triumph that those turbulent times engendered. Once during the civil rights struggle, she was chased by a pickup truck filled with hooded Ku Klux Klansmen. She told of guarding her home with a rifle while a cross burned in her yard.
She took part in the famous Selma-Montgomery March and witnessed the “Bloody Sunday” events on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, an experience she later depicted in dozens of paintings. Little did she realize that her rich life experiences were being stored, just waiting for a suitable means of expression.
At age 52, when her last child had left the nest and after kneecap replacement surgery limited her mobility, she retired from her job in nursing. She earned her GED and by 1984, began taking courses at Jefferson Davis Community College in Brewton. She gives credit to one of her instructors, Larry Manning, for renewing her interest in art. He took his art history-class on a field trip to the Montgomery Museum of Art, she heard about Mose Tolliver, who lived and worked nearby.
She subsequently visited Tolliver at his home in Montgomery, saw his work and the acclaim he received from it, and decided to pursue her postponed artistic dream that began in those childhood afternoons when she lived near two spinster sisters, one of whom was a painter and introduced her to art. She fondly remembers many afternoons watching her paint, and this piqued her interest in also becoming a painter.
Manning encouraged her to pursue her career as an artist. She specialized in memory painting, rendering scenes from her youth. Colorful scenes of farm life, church activities, church and community gatherings, daily and family life and the civil rights struggles she participated in. She often portrayed playgrounds and scenes of children in her work.
Whenever she was interviewed, she always said, “I’m trying to tell a story in my work. I also try to have a little history for these youngsters coming along. You don’t find it in a schoolbook or classroom. I want them to know things weren’t like they are today. I want them to learn about the struggle people my age had to go through.”
Sims gained her first national exposure in 1993 when her work was included in the exhibition, Passionate Visions of the American South: Self-Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, that opened at the New Orleans Museum of Art and traveled nationwide.
In 1994, she was inducted into the Black History Hall of Fame in Lake Charles, La., for her contributions to black culture.
In 2003, her work was included in an exhibition honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis, Tenn.
On Aug. 29, 2005, the United States Postal Service dedicated 10 stamps in a series titled “To Form a More Perfect Union” commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and honored the civil rights movement’s most enduring milestones and the people who made them possible. Sims’ image, The Crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, was selected to be one of the stamps in this series.
In May-June 2008, the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University in Montgomery hosted an exhibition of approximately 70 of her paintings. The exhibition, A Brush with the Past: Memory Paintings of Bernice Sims, was organized by Montgomery attorney and Folk Art Society member Micki Beth Stiller.
Her paintings are displayed nationwide, in homes, galleries, the Alabama State capitol and in Washington D.C.
She was a featured artist at the Riverfest Weekend in Columbus, Ga., and the Kentuck Festival in Tuscaloosa. She was inducted into the Black Heritage Hall of Fame in 1994 for her contributions to Black Culture. She was an invited artist at the Williams Station Day in Atmore.
Her life and legacy had such an impact on her grandson Jeffrey, that he vowed to have it put in print. He collaborated with LaVender Shedrick Williams and Bernice’s life and legacy came to fruition through “The Struggle, My Life and Legacy.”
From humble beginnings, she made significant contributions through her life and her art. She spent her golden years in Pensacola, Fla., surrounded by her family and friends who traveled near and far to see her.
She will be greeted and welcomed home by her parents, Essie Bell and Robert Johnson; her sisters and brothers, Fannie Morris, Daisy Fore, Robert, Earl Lee and Walter Frank Johnson; her daughters, Ruby Westery and Bernice Bernard Sims; her sons, Willie James Jr. and Clarence Sims; and many other relatives and friends.
She leaves a legacy to her children, Frank Sims of Virginia Beach, Va., and Edward Sims of Birmingham; her sisters, Evelyn Johnson and Betty Sue Johnson; her daughters-in-law, Louvenia, Alice, Gwen and Jean; her many, many, many beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren; many, many nieces and nephews, her cousins, her daughters-in law, and other relatives and friends.