OXFORD — The Rev. John William Lyon, 88, died Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Henry Chapel of Seven Oaks Funeral Home with Bro. Lynn Jones officiating. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley. Visitation will be on Saturday from 1 p.m. until service time at Seven Oaks Funeral Home, which is in charge of arrangements. 

Born in Pontotoc, he retired from Bell South in Memphis, Tennessee, after 30 years of service prior to becoming a pastor. He loved serving the Lord and pastored several churches over a span of 30 years in Tallahatchie County, Water Valley and Oxford. He was a member of Woodland Hills Baptist Church in Water Valley, where he was faithful to fill the pulpit whenever he was called upon. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather who enjoyed fishing, hunting and woodworking.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, Gene Lyon and Jim Lyon.

He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Bettye Jean Cooper Lyon of Oxford; daughter, Sharon Summers of Atlanta, Georgia; sons, Mike Lyon of Bartlett, Tennessee and Steve Lyon of Memphis, Tennessee; sister, Martha Bull of Virginia; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.