Helena Harrell Brinegar, 97, passed away Friday, December 12, 2008 at Gilmore Memorial Regional Medical Center in Amory, MS after an extended illness. She was born May 7, 1911 to the late Clarence and Lina Harrell in Maumee, IN. She had lived in Water Valley, MS for 40 years before moving to Amory in 1996. She married Darrell Maxwell “D. M.” Brinegar on November 27, 1939, who passed away in 1991. She was a homemaker.
She was a member of First Baptist Church in Water Valley for 40 years before moving her membership to Meadowood Baptist Church in Amory. She was a dedicated mother and grandmother.
Funeral services are planned for 2:00 PM on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 in the Henry Chapel of Seven Oaks Funeral Home in Water Valley with Dr. Lloyd Sweatt and Bro. Hal Clark officiating. Visitation will begin at 11:00 AM until service time on Tuesday. Burial will be in Pinecrest Cemetery in Water Valley with Bill Bates, Matthew Lewis, Byron Hurt, Josh Maxey, Joe Bagwell, and Tim Sutherland serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Mike Joyner, Kenneth Latham, Paul Parker, Wilbur Todd, Gaylon King, Hubert Sanders, Chester Joyner, Ed Best, R. K. Peterson, Joe Harrell, and Max Harrell.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, D. M. Brinegar; her son, Roger D. Brinegar; three brothers, Hanford, John, and Robert “Bob“ Harrell; and two sisters, Lorene Shields and Lois Haynes.
Survivors include her son, Jerry Ray Lewis and his wife, Maribeth, of Amory; her daughter-in-law, Margaret Buttross Brinegar of Hattiesburg; one sister, Frances Robertson of Bedford, IN; four grandchildren, Jerry Lewis and wife Rhonda, Betty Lewis Hurt, and Jane Lewis Maxey, all of Amory, and Brett Brinegar of Natchez; six great-grandchildren, Carroll Lee, Mathew Lewis, Emily Hurt, Byron Hurt, Josh Maxey, and Sarah Beth Maxey; and several nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Memorials may be made to the Roger D. Brinegar Endowed Scholarship #625, USM Foundation, 118 College Drive #10026, Hattiesburg, MS, 39406 or to the American Alzheimer's Association.