FLORENCE DUETT Elinor Florence Ratcliff Duett, age 83, of Columbus, MS, passed away June 19, 2011, at Baptist Memorial Hospital. Funeral services will be Thursday, June 23, 2011, at 11:00 AM at Gunter & Peel Funeral Home with Dr. Albert Wilkerson officiating. The interment will immediately follow at Friendship Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday, June 23, 2011, from 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Gunter & Peel Funeral Home. Mrs. Duett was born November 26, 1927, in Meridian, MS, to the late Marvin and Kate Miller Ratcliff. She was a graduate of Philadelphia, MS, High School and worked for 27 years for the Selective Service System and Veterans Administration. Mrs. Duett also worked for a number of years at the Officer's Club at Columbus Air Force Base and retired from the Lowndes County American Red Cross. She was the first woman to serve on the Columbus Light and Water Board and was a member of East End Baptist Church and Fidelis Sunday School Class. Her memberships also included Business Professional Women, Soroptimist Club, Eastern Star, and Terra Firma Garden Club. In addition to her parents, Mrs. Duett was preceded in death by her husband, Marzine P. Duett, and son, Marzine "Sonny" Duett, Jr. Survivors include her son, David Duett of Columbus, MS, daughter, Sherry Barwick and her husband Sid of Collierville, TN, brothers, Marvin Ratcliff, Jr. and his wife Faye of Birmingham, AL, and Dr. James Ratcliff and his wife Carol of Jackson, MS, sister, Mary Lyles and her husband John of Pascagoula, MS, grandchildren, Kelly Gonzalez and her husband Richard, Jayson Barwick, Kristina Barwick, Jeff Duett and his wife Alice, Chris Duett, and Brooke Ann Duett, and great grandchildren, Elizabeth Barwick, Ariel Gonzalez, and Eli Duett, and several nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Roger Short, Buddy Burkes, Bill Land, Robert Rhett, John Fields, Greg Andrews, Tommy Howard, Greg Lewis, Todd Graham, and C. F. Harris. Honorary pallbearers will be Stewart Clay, John Laws, John Gibbons, Jimmy Pannel, Kenny Smith, Hugh Montgomery, Tommy Montgomery, Buddy Easley, Robert Brewer, Tommy Kidd, Randy Edmonson, Bill Brigham, Perry Hendrix, Tom Wolford, IV, Bubba Randall, Clifton Caldwell, and Henry Elmore. Memorials may be made to Recovery House, 770 Golding Rd., Columbus, MS, 39702, Avante House, 7214 Hwy 182 East, Columbus, MS, 39702, or East End Baptist Church, P.O. Box 8480, Columbus, MS, 39705.
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