WILLIE F. “BILLY” MURPHY

Mr. Willie F. “Billy” MURPHY, 89, a resident of Brantley, passed away on Wed., May 13, 2015.

Funeral services will be held at Liberty Congregational Church tomorrow, Sat., May 16, 2015, at 10 a.m. with the Rev. Woody Clark officiating. Interment will follow in Liberty Cemetery with Turner Funeral Home of Luverne directing.

Mr. Murphy was preceded in death by his parents, Willie and Lily Clyde Faison Murphy; four brothers; and two sisters.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Juanita King Murphy; daughter, Susan Murphy Dearman; granddaughter, Amber (Neal) Palmer; and great-grandson, Jake Palmer.

Active pallbearers will be John Murphy, Alan Currie, John Joiner, Jim Faison, Sammy Hogg, Johnny Hogg, Hal Dearman and Jake Palmer.

The family requests that any memorial donations be made to the Liberty Cemetery Fund, c/o Dozier National Bank, Dozier, Alabama.

The family will receive friends from 9:30 a.m. until service time at the church on Saturday.

JOHN THOMAS BASS SR.

John Thomas Bass Sr. was born in April 1924 near the fork of Five Runs Creek in Covington County. Tommy passed away on Tues., May 5, 2015, at a local hospital.

Tommy was a World War II veteran. He was in the 13th Air Force and drove a dozer, clearing and building air field landing strips for the B47s during the Battle of Morotai, an island in the South Pacific.

In 1945, Tommy married Roberta Howell and moved to Troy to attend Troy University and received his teaching degree in 1949. The family moved to Panama City, Fla., where Tommy began his teaching career at Springfield Elementary. Tommy left teaching to join the U.S. Postal Service. He enjoyed playing semi-pro baseball and played with the Louisville Sluggers at one time.

Tommy taught for the Covington County School System from 1963 to 1986 at Pleasant Home High School, Straughn High School, Red Level High School and Bethune High School. He will be remembered for his drivers education classes by so many in the community.

Tommy was pre-deceased by his wife, Roberta; his parents, Mayme and John Riley Bass; his son, John (Johnny) Thomas Bass Jr.; siblings, Joel Sidney Bass, Catherine Bolding and Ann Kilcrease; and grandchildren, John David Morgan and Thomas Sean Morgan.

He leaves behind to cherish his memories his daughters, Judith B. Casey; son-in-law, Rick Casey, Jacqueline Bass and Janet Bass; grandchildren, Sean (Stephanie) Anderson, Ashley Frederick, Zac Casey, Griffin Casey, Tyler Casey, Russell Messick, Roberta (Jason) Hall, Kristi Reddish and Terry Headley, Shane Reddish and Alanna Moore; great-grandchildren, Brandon and Ryan Frederick, Alex, Ethan and Cameron Casey, Gage Messick, Blake Jones, Jason Wyatt Hall, and Laken and Kira Moore.

The remains will be cremated, and there will be no funeral service. A memorial will be held at a later date.