Dwight Hellums

Dwight Hellums was born June 8, 1921 in Pontotoc Co. to Henry Grady and Lillie Roane Clark Hellums. He moved with his parents to Texas, Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta before settling in Lafayette Co. It was here that he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on Jan. 12, 1942. After boot training at San Diego, CA he was assigned to Co. A, 2 ^nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2 ^nd Marine Division. He and his company were credited with shooting down Japanese planes at Guadalcanal while assigned to the ship Alhena. After further training in New Zealand he drove AmTrac #15 during the first wave of Marines to attack Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll. He was wounded Nov. 20, 1943 while landing on shore and spent two days and one night sheltered in a bomb crater. After receiving medical attention at Pearl Harbor he was reassigned as driver to another AmTrac and participated in the invasion of Saipan-Tinian. From 1944 to 1946 he served as an AmTrac instructor and traveled the U.S. promoting War Bonds. On September 22, 1944 he married Helen Edwards in Oxford, MS. She predeceased him in 2006. He was discharged from the Marines Jan. 21, 1946 and returned to Mississippi. He farmed and worked for many years for Chickasaw-Calhoun Grain Corp. He was a cattleman, tree farmer, had served as a Boy Scout leader and school board member for the Sarepta school and served as treasurer for Shady Grove United Methodist Church for many years.

He is survived by sons Edmond (Rebecca) and Larry, both of Sarepta; daughters Sandra (Rick) White, Looxahoma and Rita of Sarepta; grandchildren Gene (Suzanne) Hellums, Albuquerque; Laura (Barry) Lee, Oxford; Shane (Jamie) White, Haughton, LA; Derrick (Jayna) Walls, Pontotoc; and Kristen (Jeremy) Loden, Saltillo. Great-grandchildren Joey Hellums, Colton Lee, Julie Lee, Devin White, Sara White, Georgia White, Jayla Walls, Celsey Brown, Katelyn Walls and Lucas Walls.

A Funeral service will be at 12:00 PM on Wednesday at Parker Memorial Funeral Home Chapel with  Bro. Will Turner officiating. Interment will be in Shady Grove Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be: Gene Hellums, Scott Hellums, Barry Lee, Colton Lee, Jeremy Loden, Kenny Oliver, Derrick Walls, and Shane White

Honorary Pallbearers will be: Jerry Bryant, Billy Van Clark, Larry Collins, Sherman Higginbottham, Billy Howell, Charles Langham, and the Bruce VFW post.

The family will receive friends from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Wednesday, June 7, 2017, at Parker Memorial Funeral Home, 476 hwy 9n, Bruce, Mississippi.

Online Condolences can be made at www.parkermemorialfuneralhomes.com