Larue Magee

Services were held at Society Hill Baptist Church in Oakvale on Thursday, October 6 at 2:00pm for Mr. Luther Larue Magee, who passed away at his home on October 4, 2011. Interment followed in the Society Hill cemetery. Reverend L. C. Anthony, Reverend Chris Rankin and Reverend David Williamson officiated services. Pall bearers were his nephews Vincent Iovino, Jr., Anthony Iovino, Earl Buckley, Jr., Mickey Buckley, Mark Saxon, and friend, Jerry Johnson. Mr. Magee was born on October 19, 1929, in Oakvale, MS, to Gay Weatherford Magee and George Dewey Magee. He was a lifetime farmer and worked for several years for Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association. He was an accomplished carpenter and was known for his detailed cabinet making. In 1949 he married “the preacher’s daughter,” Edith Ellouise Dukes and they made their home for over sixty-two years in the Society Hill community. Their favorite “second home” was the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Mr. Magee served for over fifty-five years as a deacon of Society Hill Baptist Church where he was instrumental in building the original structure of the current building. He served the church in many capacities including Sunday School teacher, Director of Brotherhood, and Chairman of the Deacons. One of his greatest joys in serving the Lord came as a leader of mission trips to the Western United States to construct and repair church buildings. Preceding him in death were his parents and his sisters, Maudeen Magee Iovino of Danbury, CT and Prentiss and Martha Buckley Baker also of Prentiss. Also preceding him in death in 1976 at age 18 months was his beloved grandson and namesake, Heath Larue Bridges. He is survived by his wife of sixty-two years, Ellouise Dukes Magee of Oakvale; his daughter Dr. Patricia (Tricia) Magee Bridges and her husband, Karon of Hattiesburg; his son George Larue (Sonny) Magee of Florence and his fiancée Lisa Garland Rutland of Brandon; and his daughter-in-law, Mayo Waller of Prentiss; his grandchildren and great-grandchildren: William Karon (Kary) Bridges, Jr., his wife Katie, and children Heath, Ellouise Anne, and Meg of Water Valley; Cathy Michelle Williamson, her husband Michael, and daughters Ashton Finch and Michaela Williamson of Magee; Tricia Diane Crotwell, her husband Jason, and daughter Caitlyn of Raymond; Kami Blythe Jones and her husband Josh of Hattiesburg; and Michael Dewey Magee, his wife Krista, and son Archer Ayden Magee of Florence. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the North American Mission Board through any Southern Baptist church.