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Daniel EugeneWilliams

“Gene” “Papoo/Papa Gene”

1933-2024

 Gene was predeceased by his first wife JoAnne of 49 years.

Left to cherish his memories are his loving wife Mildred, daughter Cindy and 4 Stepchildren,12 Grandchildren,13 Great Grandchildren and his sister Gail.

Gene graduated from Columbus High School, Columbus, GA, in 1952.

 Gene served in the United States Air Force from 1955-1958 during the Korean War as a Chaplain’s Assistant.

 His advanced education includes an Associate’s Degree,Brewton-Parker College, GA

Bachelor’s Degree, Carson Newman College, TN and a Masters in Religious Education, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, TX

 Gene was ordained as a Southern Baptist Minister of Education and served in the following churches:

 First Baptist, Barnesville, GA

Calvary Baptist, Columbus, GA

First Baptist, Tucker, GA

Eastside Baptist, Marietta, GA

Southside Baptist, Lakeland, FL

Wright Baptist, Ft Walton Beach, FL

Calvary Baptist, Winter Haven, FL

Lakeside Baptist, Lakeland, FL

 Gene felt called to serve others and loved his many years in the ministry. He had an incredibly deep love for all his family and enjoyed travel, which included 48 of 50 amazing states in our beautiful country.

 A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, April 5 at 2:00pm at First Baptist Church,

200 W. College St. Troy, AL 36081

In lieu of flowers, Gene asked for his friends & family to consider donations to Franklin Graham’s Samaritans Purse to help those in desperate need around the world.

Harold Floyd Herring, a resident of Dothan, passed away Friday, March 29, 2024. He was 88.

Graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in the New Zion Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery, (County Road 99, Tumbleton Community, near Headland), with Dr. Taylor Rutland officiating. The family will receive friends following the graveside service.

Mr. Herring was born and raised in the Browns Cross Roads Community of Henry County, son of Jack and Dutchie Lee Herring. He was a graduate of Abbeville High School. Mr. Herring lived in Dothan all his adult life. Mr. Herring was publisher and co- founder of The Dothan Progress newspaper. For the past 30 years, he and his wife owned and operated Herring Jewelry where they enjoyed working together daily with Nancy Kopko. Mr. Herring lived a life motto of “Making Memories.” He was a member of First Baptist Church of Dothan. He was preceded in death by his wife of 70 years, Jeanette Shelley Herring.

Surviving relatives include his son, Don Herring (Karen), Troy, AL; grandchildren, Mitch Herring (Leigh Ellen), Homewood, AL; Zack Herring(Tori), Nashville, TN; Garrett Herring, Nashville, TN; Ross Herring, Nashville, TN; great grandchildren, Livy, Margaret and Eloise Herring, Homewood, AL.

Serving as pallbearers will be Mitch Herring, Zack Herring, Garrett Herring, Ross Herring, Michael “Bubba” Smitherman and Jim Johnson.

The family would like to thank the loving staff of Serenity South Memory Care in Troy and Dr. Mickey DiChiara. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to the Pike Medical Foundation, 1330 Hwy. 231 South, Troy, AL.

Mary Shannon O’Hara

Mary Shannon O’Hara passed away Thursday, March 28, 2024, at her home in Troy, Alabama, at the age of 79, surrounded by her family. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 2 pm at First Baptist Church in Troy  with Dr. Ross Lankford and Geoffrey Spann officiating and Dillard Funeral Home of Troy directing. Mrs. O’Hara will lie in state one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will follow in Green Hills Memorial Park. Visitation will be held on Friday, April 5, 2024 from 5 pm until 7 pm at Dillard Funeral Home in Troy.

Mary is preceded in death by her grandparents H.K. Shannon, Mary Ellen Lanier Shannon, Russell Holmes, and Naomi Payne Holmes, as well as her parents, Robert Lanier Shannon and Mary Russell Holmes Shannon. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Brent O’Hara, her son, Michael O’Hara (Kassey), grandson, Luke O’Hara, her sister, Paula Lee Shannon and several cousins.

Mary O’Hara

Mary O’Hara was born on September 13, 1944. She grew up in Portland, Tennessee in a Christian family household learning how to navigate life from her father, Robert Lanier Shannon, and her mother, Mary Russell Shannon. She also formed a strong bond with her younger sister, Paula Shannon while growing up in Portland. Mary graduated high school in 1962 and attended college at Belmont University from which she graduated in 1966. While attending Belmont, she made several lifelong friends and most importantly, she met her soul mate, Brent O’Hara. Mary graduated with her degree in Elementary Education from Belmont and embarked on her career path as a teacher.

Brent and Mary were married on June 28, 1968, at First Baptist Church in Portland, Tennessee. While starting her teaching career Mary and her husband also started their family with the birth of their son, Michael O’Hara. After some years of teaching, Mary and her family eventually moved to Troy, Alabama, where they settled in and made their permanent home.

While living in Troy, Mary taught Kindergarten at Pike County Elementary School. During this part of her teaching career, she made many friends and formed some very strong bonds with many teachers. For a few of these friendships, the bond between them was more than as teachers. They were best friends and, on many occasions, would plan fun outings and gatherings away from the teaching environment. Trips to go shopping and eating out meals were just some of the memories she made with her best friends. After retirement, they never lost touch and kept the traditions of shopping trips and meals going and added taking a yearly trip to Panama City Beach. When speaking of these outings, a smile would come across her face. She cherished these trips until the end.

Mary was a believer in Jesus as her Lord and Savior. She was involved with serving the Lord in a number of ways. She always supported her husband who worked as a minister of music in several churches before taking a job at the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home in Troy, Alabama, as an activities and music director. As a member of First Baptist Church in Troy, Alabama, she served in the nursery for a while before joining the adult choir where she sang beautifully as a soprano in the choir. She also helped serve by teaching the 4- and 5-year-old children during VBS week.

Mary loved cooking meals and entertaining company, especially on holidays. One of her signature meals she would prepare for family and friends was roast beef with potatoes, carrots, green beans, and rice with gravy. She would say this meal was her favorite to fix because Brent and Michael really loved it. Another meal she prepared that was enjoyed by family and friends was spaghetti and meatballs.

Mary had a sweet tooth and loved making different types of desserts. More recently, she enjoyed making strawberry cupcakes for her grandson, Luke. She always enjoyed when he came over and helped her ice the cupcakes with strawberry icing. It was a memory she kept close to her heart and talked about until the end.

Mary O’Hara was a great teacher and a very good friend to many, a best friend to a precious few, a great sister, a grandmother whose love for her grandson was out of this world, a mother-in-law who always showed her love through gifts, food, and words of encouragement, a loving wife, a soul mate, and the best mom, whose love was felt in so many ways from the day her son was born to the day she was called home to be with Jesus. Most importantly, she was a Christian who believed in Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior.

Sandra L. Newman

Sandra L. Newman, 80, a resident of Fort Davis, passed away on Friday, March 29, 2024.  Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. at Macedonia Baptist Church with Pastor David Floyd officiating.  Burial will follow in the church cemetery with Gray Funeral Home directing.

Sandra was loved and will be missed by many.  She was a generous and caring person and helped out many throughout her life.  Sandra lived a full and happy life.  She is in the arms of Jesus.

She is survived by her children: Charlean Cole and Brent Newman; cousin, Willadean Spratlan and many other cousins.

Pallbearers will be: Paul Roughton, Phil Roughton, Robbie Newman, Keith Newman, Josh Spratlan, Johnny Johnson.  Honorary pallbearer: Walt Spratlan.

A visitation will be held at Gray Funeral Home on Monday, April 1, 2024 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.