Dorothy "Dot" Reed DePriest was born on December 22, 1933, and died on September 28, 2015. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 2, 2015, at First Apostolic Church of Louisville with Rev. Michael Halfacre, Bishop Billy Shoulders, and Rev. Glynn Barker officiating. Visitation will be the day of the service from 10 a.m. until service time at the church. Interment will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery. The family requests in lieu of flowers that memorials be given to First Apostolic Church Building Fund or to Missionary Mary Mitchell, c/o First Apostolic Church, 118 E. John C. Stennis Drive, Louisville, MS 39339.
Dot was the loving wife of Millard for sixty years. She also leaves behind her son John, his wife Meg, their child Dustin, all of Louisville; her daughter Jana and her husband Kevin Larson of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Dot came from a family of seven children: Her siblings are Mavis Halfacre (Arthur), Inez Blumenfield, Bobby Reed (Sharon), Joanne Peterson (Maxey), all of Louisville, and Gwen Cooper (Gary) of Hattiesburg. She was preceded in death by her parents J. T. and Eddie Mae Reed and her sister Eloise Hudson. Also many nieces and nephews loved her dearly.
In entering the rest of her beloved Savior Jesus Christ, she leaves a legacy of giving, caring, sharing and nurturing the next generation. She not only impacted the lives of her children and her grandchild Dustin, but also the lives of every niece, nephew, great niece and great nephew. She believed that each could do more than he himself or she herself thought possible. Each one could show mementos of time spent with her or of evidence that she was thinking of them. One niece commented, "She just made me a better person."
However, she reached out not only to her family, but her church also held great importance in her life. She served as a Sunday School teacher and youth leader. Two of her former students recently remarked, “She is the best Sunday School teacher I ever had.” She used her creative talent to adorn the church sanctuary and fellowship hall with fresh flower arrangements. She served wherever she saw a need.
Her impact, furthermore, went beyond family and church. Some people help to shape a community, to strive to make it a good place to live. Dorothy and Millard were some of those folks. Even though they had no physical business in Louisville, they have been long-time members of the Winston County Chamber of Commerce. Dot was honored by that entity in 1995 as “Woman of the Year” for her service to church and community.
A charter member of the Red Hills Art Association, she actively helped make that group a well-known name in our region. Her paintings have won many blue ribbons and Purchase Awards.
From the 1960s to 2013 when she became ill, she was a faithful worker in the Town and Country Garden Club, where she served as president. She put arrangements in the library and one of the other members recalled, “The head table at the Chamber of Commerce banquet was hers to decorate because she was so creative and used unusual elements in her designs.” Alderwoman Frances Ball also said, “I never heard one negative word about her. I remember how I admired Dot and Mavis when they were young. They dressed so neatly, every hair in place. The Reeds were just good, good people.”
Dorothy DePriest was a godly person, a homemaker, a family person, a community person. And over and over, people have said, “What a sweet, sweet person, a dear friend!”
Services are under the direction of Nowell-Massey Funeral Home, 724 North Columbus Avenue, Louisville, MS. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family by signing the guest register at www.nowellmasseyfuneralhome.com.
