WATER VALLEY — Virginia “Jackson” French Pierce, 93, died Friday, March 4, 2016, at the Yalobusha General Nursing Home in Water Valley. Funeral services will be held today at noon in the Henry Chapel of Seven Oaks Funeral Home with Bro. Allan Pierce officiating. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley. Visitation will be today from 11 a.m. until service time at Seven Oaks Funeral Home, which is in charge of arrangements.

Born in Water Valley, she was an accomplished athlete at Water Valley High School playing basketball and tennis. She married the love of her life, James Pierce, on Dec. 29, 1942. She worked as a telephone operator when phones were manually connected and then worked in the local clothing factory, Rice-Stix, from 1954 until her retirement in 1988. She enjoyed working in her flower garden and remained active well into her 90s. She was a lifetime member of the Church of Christ on Main Street in Water Valley.

Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, five sisters and five brothers.

She is survived by sons, Charles Michael Pierce of Raleigh, North Carolina, and Duane Pierce of Madison; sisters, Mary Katherine Leggitt of Yocona and Naida Lee Fenner of Kansas City, Kansas; three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.