Lera Jean Coleman Crawford McCarthy, 88, left this earthly home to be with her Lord and Savior on December 26, 2024. Visitation will be 1:00 p.m. January 8, 2025, at Resurrection Catholic Church, 259 Miramar Beach Drive, Miramar Beach, Florida where memorial services will be held. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, January 11 in the Massey Funeral Home Chapel in Louisville, Mississippi. Visitation will be the day of the service at Massey Funeral Home from 10:30 a.m. until service time. Graveside services and interment will be 11 a.m. on Monday, January 13, 2025, at Lakewood Memorial Park Cemetery, 6110 Clinton Boulevard, Jackson, Mississippi, Section 19, Lot 577, 2nd SE corner.
Jean was born to Estelle Richards Coleman and Bilbo Coleman on March 4, 1936, in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. She graduated from Sturgis High School at the top of her class and chose to go to Greenwood Leflore Nursing School in Greenwood, Mississippi. After becoming a nurse, Jean was employed by the Veterans Administration Hospital in Jackson. There she continued her education throughout her more than 40 years of employment, earning many degrees and awards. During the Vietnam War, she joined the Mississippi Air National Guard as a flight nurse transporting wounded veterans from overseas.After retiring from the VA, she moved to Miramar Beach, Florida, where she became very active in seeing to the grounds of her church. She worked at the church garden up until two months before her death. She was a Master Gardner and Daylilies were her favorite flower.
Jean is survived by her son, Guy Crawford; daughters-in-law, Robin Crawford and Meredith Beasley; stepdaughter, Billie MacDonald and Bill’s children. She also leaves behind her grandchildren, Dylan Crawford, Devon Crawford, Gracie Crawford, Melissa Crawford; and great-grands, Penny June and Ivy Jane. Jean is also survived by her brother, Travis Coleman and his wife, Martha; sister, Peggy Wallace; sister-in-law, Diane Coleman; many nieces and nephews and their extended families.
Jean was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Bernard Crawford; son, Ben Crawford; grandson, Olen Crawford; stepson, Jimmy Crawford and Jimmy’s son; husband, Bill McCarthy; Bill’s daughter, Mary; sister, Kate Coleman Brunt Hood; brother, Ronald D. Coleman; nephew, Stacy Brunt; brothers-in-law, Billy Brunt, Jim Hood and Kenneth Clyde Wallace.
