Funeral services for Willie J. (Bill) Halford, Sr. will be held on Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. at Meadville Baptist Church with Bro. Matt Alexander and Bro. Emory May officiating. Interment will follow the service at the Midway Cemetery under the direction of Bro. Johnny Bowlin. Visitation will be Wednesday, February 5, 2014 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Franklin Funeral Home in Meadville and from 1:00 until time of the service on Thursday at the Church.

Mr. Bill departed this life on February 3, 2014 at Franklin County Memorial Hospital. He was born August 15, 1917 to John H. and Cora Black Halford. Preceding him in death were his parents; infant son, John Thomas; brothers, Robert, Jessie and Frank; sisters, Dolly Hirsch, Hattie Mitchell, Corrine Cummins and Claudia Whittington. Survivors are his wife, Mamie Ruth; his daughter, Gayle (Sam) Tumey of Liberty, Mississippi; and son, William J. "Bill" (Debbie) Halford, Jr.; and grandchildren, Morgan and Will Halford, all of Meadville, Mississippi.

Mr. Bill grew up near Meadville and was a graduate of the old Meadville High School. Soon after graduation, he joined the National Guard and was sent to Camp Blanding, Florida, where he was stationed at the time of the Pearl Harbor disaster. His company was mobilized and he saw action in the South Pacific during World War II.

Mr. Bill was a member of Meadville Baptist Church, Ben Franklin Masonic Lodge, Wahabi Temple, The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He retired from Johns-Manville in Natchez and Georgia Pacific in Roxie and was a cattle farmer for many years.

Pallbearers will be Roger Ratcliff, Mike Goff, Terry Oglesby, Herman Smith, David Campbell, Jimmy Torrey, Bubba Gabbert and David Scarbrough.

The family requests that memorials be made to Meadville Baptist Church at P. O. Box 369, Meadville, MS 39653 or Midway Cemetery Association c/o Bank of Franklin, P. O. Box 606, Meadville, MS 39653 .