Betty Dunn Roberts
Betty (Dunn) Roberts, 87, of Murray, Kentucky passed away Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at the Anna Mae Owen Residential Hospice House in Murray.
She was born March 16, 1937, in Kirksey, Kentucky, to Louie and Pearl Dunn.
She was a homemaker and a member of Cherry Corner Baptist Church where she taught preschoolers for 62 years.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, N.D. Roberts, to whom she was married for 51 years; four brothers, George, Ike, Roy, and Charles Dunn; and five sisters, Cora Mae Henson, Opal Dunn, Mary Sue Henson, Larue Zollinger, and Beauton Trimble.
Mrs. Roberts is survived by two daughters, Glenda Garland and husband David, and Teresa Pierce and husband Jeff, all of Murray; one son, David Roberts and wife Stephanie of Murray; one brother, J.D. Dunn of Dexter; two grandsons, Tim and Wesley Roberts, both of Murray; one granddaughter, Audrey Elliott and husband Drew of Murray; five great-grandchildren, Ethan and Anna Kate Roberts, and Nate, Colson, and Carson Elliott, all of Murray; and several nieces and nephews.
The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Monday, March 17, 2025, at the J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services with Ronnie Burkeen and Russell Dunn officiating. Burial will follow in Murray Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be from 9-11 a.m. Monday, March 17, 2025, at the funeral home.
Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Cherry Corner Baptist Church Children’s Fund, Attn: Ronnie Burkeen, 461 Elderberry Drive, Dexter, KY 42036.
Online condolences may be left at www.jhchurchill.com.
The J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements.
Paula Sue Sammons Pierce
With deep love and sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved Paula Sue Sammons Pierce or “Nanny” as many of us know her, who left this world on March 12, 2025, at the age of 93. She was a devoted mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother and a dear friend to many. Her fun-loving spirit, kindness, and passion for life made her a light in the lives of everyone who had the joy of knowing her.
Born June 9, 1931, in Graves County, she lived a life centered around love and family. Nothing brought her more happiness than gathering with those she loved, cooking delicious meals, and filling her home with laughter and warmth. She found joy in the simple, everyday moments—whether it was preparing a family feast, keeping her home filled with love and care, or celebrating life’s special occasions with those closest to her.
Beyond her family, she was a cherished friend to many, always offering a helping hand, a listening ear, and a heart full of kindness. She had an undeniable passion for happiness, sharing her joy and optimism with everyone around her. Her laughter was contagious, her love was boundless, and her legacy of warmth and generosity will live on in the hearts of all who knew her.
She was preceded in death by her first husband, John Irby Sammons; second husband, William G Pierce, both of Murray; a son, John Sammons Jr. of Halls, Tennessee; parents, Williard and Maureen Taylor Copeland of Graves County; sisters, Mary Mason, Dorthy Ross, JoAnn Ladd, Barbara Fox; one brother, Don Copeland; a grandson, Jared Lee Sammons of Murray; and three great-grandchildren, Krislyn, Brandt and Jaden Bailey, all of Murray.
Sue is survived by her son, Steve Sammons of Murray; a daughter, Jennifer Lynne Claspell of Murray; nine grandchildren, Dr. Jason Sammons and wife Jennifer of Jackson, Tennessee, Stephanie Balmer and husband Wade of Murray; Vanessa Garland and husband Jason of Graves County; Kim May and husband Ronald of Halls, John Thomas Sammons of Hall, Andrea Noon and husband Jon of Boonville, Indiana, Chris Bailey of Murray, and Brandi Gladden and husband RG of Murray; and Megan Claspell of Springfield Illinois; 21 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; and two special friends, Pam Woods and Maurita Smith, who will continue to honor her memory by embracing life with the same love and enthusiasm she showed every day.
The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 16, 2025, at the J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services. Entombment will follow in Murray City Cemetery. Visitation will be from noon until 2 p.m. Sunday, March 16, 2025, at the funeral home. Family and friends are invited to come together to honor a remarkable woman whose spirit will never be forgotten.
Though she may no longer be with us in person, her love will continue to guide us. Rest in peace, dear Nanny. You will be forever loved and deeply missed.
In leu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to North Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, 2129 Graham Road, Murray, KY 42071.
Online condolences may be left at www.jhchurchill.com.
The J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements.
Bobby Lee McCallister
Bobby Lee McCallister passed away peacefully Feb. 24, 2025, in Monroe, Washington, after a brief illness.
He was born in Eureka, Ohio, and grew up in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where he met his wife, Nancy (Shell). He follows Nancy in death after 49 years of marriage.
He was a member of the congregation of Unity Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Hardin, as well as the American Angus Association and the American Legion. He was a Korean War veteran serving in the US Army as a target airplane crewman at the Yuma Test Station in Arizona. After his service, he returned to West Virginia and ultimately worked for Massey Ferguson in Des Moines, Iowa, in the combine division. He retired in 1991 and he and Nancy relocated to Kentucky. Retirement meant Angus cattle, farming, fishing and school bus driving.
In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his parents, Emery and Virginia McCallister; his sister, Dorothy Fisher; and his brothers, Jim, Paul and Larry McCallister.
Mr. McCallister is survived by his sisters, Reba Hayes of Michigan, Velma Solar (Henry) of San Antonio, Texas, and Janet Belello (Joe) of Gonzales, Louisiana; his children, Susan Chambers (Orville), Teresa Levine, and MicMcCallister Obit with Pichael McCallister (Christine); grandchildren Miles Worthington, Jules Worthington, Austin Chambers, Matthew Crauer (Alison Herendeen), Sara DuBois (Christopher), Darian McCallister, Tristan McCallister, Brad Kimball, Alyssa Mull, Samantha Davis, and Justin Kimball; and great-grandchildren Sophia Worthington, Emma Worthington, Brycen Worthington, and Theodore DuBois.
The family would like to acknowledge the many friends in Kentucky that supported our father with kindness and care over the last few years. He was fortunate to have a congregation, friends and neighbors that allowed him the independence he desired. We appreciate all of you.
The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 22, 2025, at J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services with Wayne Hopkins officiating. Visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. Saturday, March 22, 2025, at the funeral home with a committal service following in Unity Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Hardin where he will be laid to rest next to Nancy.
Online condolences may be left at www.jhchurchill.com.
The J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements.
Mary Ann Buie
Mary Ann Buie, 69, of Murray, passed away on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at her home.
Mrs. Buie was born on March 22, 1955 in Murray, KY to the late Frank Carroll and Cleva Jean Lee. Mary Ann loved to be outdoors mowing and gardening. She was loved by many and will be dearly missed.
She is preceded in death by her parents; a son, Brent Tucker and a sister, Kay Henderson.
Those left to cherish her memory include her loving husband, Mr. James Buie of Murray; a daughter, Cindy McNutt (Michael) of Murray; a brother, Louie Sieting (Jeannie) of Murray; a sister, Jeania Adkisson of Murray and two grandsons, BJ Tucker and Jacob Cantrell.
The funeral service for Mary Ann is set for 1 pm on Friday, March 14, 2025 at Imes Funeral Home, downtown Murray. Richard Burkeen will officiate and burial will follow at Tucker Cemtery. Pallbearers include Michael McNutt, Hunter Mays, Parker Mays, Chase Johnson, Charles Sieting, Joey McCall. The family welcomes visitors from 11 am until 1 pm on Friday, March 14 2025 at the funeral home.
Expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to the Regional Cancer Center, 803 Poplar Street, Murray, KY 42071.
Imes Funeral Home & Crematory, downtown Murray, is in charge of arrangements and provided editorial content in its entirety for this obituary.
Richard ‘Dick’ Fuller
Richard (Dick) Fuller, 96, died March 9, 2025.
He was born Dec. 19, 1928. He lived at Brookdale Retirement Home in Murray, where he passed away in his sleep.
Dick was born in Chicago Illinois, and met his Joanne there while on a double blind date. As he used to tell it, they were actually not with each other on that date, but he took one look at Joanne and knew he wanted to marry her. They were married three months later. They lived in Chicago for a few years, where their children were born. Dick had a business opportunity in Grand Rapids Michigan, so they moved there to start a Midas Muffler shop. Eventually Dick owned three Midas Muffler shops in Michigan.
Dick had many hobbies. When he was young he enjoyed sports car racing on tracks around Chicago. When his son Jeff was born he gave up the sport because during that time, in the 1950s, this was a very dangerous sport and he realized he needed to put his family first. When Dick and family moved to Grand Rapids, he started playing tennis. Dick loved the sport but in Grand Rapids he had to play inside in the winter. So Dick and Joanne decided to go somewhere warm in the winter. They moved to San Diego, California in 1972 where they lived for the next 50 years. Besides tennis, Dick enjoyed sports cars and later a classic car collector. He was a member of several car clubs and Dick and Joanne enjoyed showing their cars and traveling with the clubs for events with their cars. Dick also put on several car shows for the classic car clubs to benefit the American Cancer Society.
Dick will be missed by his family and friends. But we all have many fond memories. Dick’s life can be summed up in his favorite singer Frank Sinatra’s song, “I did it my way.”
He was preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Joanne (Wolfberg) Fuller, who died just over a month earlier.
Dick is survived by his two children, Jeff Fuller (Gwyn Smith) of Alameda, California, and Claire Fuller (George Kipphut) of Murray; his two grandchildren, Niko Sikkel of Nashville, Tennessee, and Aaron Sikkel of Bowling Green; and a cousin, Perry Berke of Chicago, Illinois. He was preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Joanne (Wolfberg) Fuller, who died just over a month earlier.
A celebration of life will be held at a later time.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Murray-Calloway County Humane Society,607 Poplar St. # A, Murray, KY 42071 or the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 6704, Hagerstown, MA 21741.
Online condolences may be left at www.jhchurchill.com.
The J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements.
Charles ‘Buzzy’ Tigrett Wicker
Charles "Buzzy" Tigrett Wicker, 65, of Murray, Kentucky, passed away Saturday, March 1, 2025, at the Murray-Calloway County Hospital.
Buzzy was born April 3, 1959 in Union City, Tennessee, to John and Donna Wicker.
He was a proud graduate of Harding Academy and Abilene Christian University, having made lifelong friends at both schools. He studied mass communication and audio visual, working in that field until he retired.
Buzzy spent most of his adult life living in Dallas, Texas. He later moved to Murray to be close to his sister, Joni. He enjoyed traveling to Europe, making his own music, creative cooking, pickleball and spending time with loved ones.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Sarah, and his parents, John and Donna Wicker.
Left to cherish his memory are his daughter, Lily Wicker of Dallas; his sister, Joni Lancaster of Murray; a nephew, Charles Ransom Lancaster (Courtney) of Murray; and a host of loving cousins and friends.
A memorial visitation was from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at Imes Funeral Home, downtown Murray.
Expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to The Foundation at Murray-Calloway County Hospital, Memo: Jan Weaver Music and Memory, 803 Poplar St., Murray, KY 42071.
Imes Funeral Home & Crematory, downtown Murray, is in charge of arrangements and provided editorial content in its entirety for this obituary.
Dr. William ‘Bill’ Schell Jr.
Dr. William (Bill) Schell, Jr. (age 74) died in the early hours of Friday, March 7th 2025 at Baptist Health, Paducah.
ill was born on the Army Base In Yokohama, Japan on March 22, 1950 to parents Captain William Schell and Martha Ellis Schell. Throughout his early childhood he traveled with his mother, brother, and father to many deployments including Germany before his father retired from the Army and the family resided in Alexandria, VA.
Bill graduated from Fort Hunt High School where he played tuba and string bass in the band. He graduated in 1968 and enrolled at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC where he majored in music and then later in History. It was there where he met his future wife, Janet Wingfield, and they married December 9, 1972 at the Garysburg United Methodist Church in Garysburg, NC. They then resided in the over a century-old farmhouse on the Ellis family farm.
Bill was always a good worker, having a variety of jobs; everything from a factory job at the paper mill to co-owning a record store with his brother, Wiley, with many other jobs in between. After three years, Bill joined the all-volunteer army and was stationed at Glenhousen, Germany and then at Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado Springs, CO with his wife, Janet joining him at each base. Bill was a passionate fly-fisherman and enjoyed fishing in Germany, England, Scotland, and Colorado when he was stationed there.
Bill and Janet’s first daughter, Ellis, was born at Fort Carson three months before he was discharged. The family then moved back to North Carolina so Bill could continue his education at UNC in Chapel Hill, NC. While there, he also served in the Army National Guard and earned a Masters and Phd. in Latin American History. Also while at UNC, he enjoyed the sport of fencing and was a member of the fencing club. While at UNC, Bill worked many jobs to support his family including tennis club grounds keeper, house painter, and short order cook. During this time, his second daughter, Megan was born.
In 1991, he was hired by Murray State University to teach in the History Department. He taught for twenty-five years. Bill loved teaching and his students. He especially loved getting to return to Germany and teach in Regensburg through the study abroad program and was disappointed when had to retire early due to health issues. He and his family loved living in Murray. He especially loved playing guitar and singing with friends and family. He was also known for his love of building elaborate sandcastles at Atlantic Beach, NC where he and his family vacationed for thirteen years.
Both of his daughters were in the Murray High Band and he loved grilling burgers for the band boosters in the concessions stand for nine years. Bill had strong opinions and loved to debate on any topic. On rare occasions, he might concede a point, but usually he believed his opinion was the only correct one. Bill had a lot of ill health in the last twenty-five years, but he just kept going. He would say “good training” or “I’m the healthiest sick man walking.”
Bill is preceded in death by his father Lt. Col. William Schell Sr., his mother Martha Ellis Schell, and his nephew Taylor Wingfield.
He is survived by his wife, Janet Wingfield Schell; daughters Ellis Shelby (Jason), Megan Burcham (Justin); grandchildren Virginia and Wesley Shelby, and Amelia and Finn Burcham (all of Murray); his brother Wiley (Teri), former sister-in-law Maureen Schell (Durham, NC), brothers-in-law Glenn Wingfield (Kathy), and David Wingfield (Theresa) of Virginia; 4 nieces and nephews, and many loving and good friends that he loved as well.
Visitation will be Sunday, March 16, 2025 from 1-3 PM at the Heritage Chapel of Imes Funeral Home in Murray with a service to follow at 3 PM. There will be a celebration of life for Bill at a time that will be determined later. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the following: Garysburg United Methodist Church: The United Methodist Foundation, 700 Waterfield Ridge Pl, Garner, NC 27529, memo line: GCCA/Bill Schell; Murray Tiger Band Boosters, P.O. Box 323, Murray, KY 42071; or the Sierra Club Foundation, 2101 Webster St., Suite 1250, Oakland, CA 94612.
Please join family and friends in honoring life of Dr. Schell by visiting www.imesfh.com to post your tributes and memories.
Heritage Chapel of Imes Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements and provided editorial content in its entirely for this obituary.
Billie Ruth Reed
Billie Ruth Reed, 78, of Murray, Kentucky, passed away Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at the Ray and Kay Eckstein Hospice Care Center in Paducah, Kentucky.
She was born Nov. 24, 1946, in Trigg County, Kentucky, to Robert Lee Brown and Vernie (Balentine) Brown.
She was a homemaker and a member of New Jenny Ridge Pentecostal Church.
She was preceded in death by one son, Bryan Reed; one sister-in-law, Donna Brown; and one brother-in-law, Delmer Jones.
Ms. Reed is survived by two sons, Merlin “Chris” Reed (Sherry) of Eddyville and Kevin Reed (Amber) of Benton; two sisters, Mildred Loe (Jim) of Paducah and Shirley Jones of Murray; one brother, Robert Brown of Ledbetter; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
A graveside service will be at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 15, 2025, at New Jenny Ridge Cemetery with Robert Brown and Anna Pinnegar officiating. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 15, 2025, at the funeral home.
Expressions of sympathy may be made to the New Jenny Ridge Cemetery Fund, 177 Hico Road, Murray, KY 42071.
Online condolences may be left at www.jhchurchill.com.
The J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements.
William ‘Dale’ Stallins
William “Dale” Stallins, 53, of Murray, Kentucky, passed away Monday, March 10, 2025, at his home.
He was born March 25, 1971, in Princeton, Kentucky.
He was a 1989 graduate of Calloway County High School and was employed with Kroger as a shift manager for 18 years.
He was preceded in death by his father, Ronald Wayne Stallins, and a sister, Hope Lee Stallins.
Mr. Stallins is survived by his mother and stepfather, Debbie McPherson Walker and husband Billy of Murray; stepmother, Barbara Stallins of Nashville, Tennessee; a sister, Amanda Stallins of Pensacola, Florida; two brothers, Steve Stallins and wife Mary of Murray and James Walker of Murray; his life partner, Mark Frantz of Murray; two nieces,;three great-nephews; and one great-niece, all of Murray.
Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, March 14, 2025, at the J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services.
Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Murray-Calloway County Animal Shelter, 81 Shelter Lane, Murray, KY 42071.
Online condolences may be left at www.jhchurchill.com.
The J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements.
FUNERAL NOTICE
Imes Funeral Home & Crematory, downtown Murray
Mary Ann Buie
The funeral service is at 1 p.m. Friday, March 14, 2025, at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Tucker Cemetery.
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Heritage Chapel of Imes Funeral Home
Dr. William ‘Bill’ Schell Jr.
The funeral service is at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 16, 2025, at the funeral home.
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The J.H. Churchill Funeral Home & Cremation Services
Billie Ruth Reed
A graveside service is at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 15, 2025, at New Jenny Ridge Cemetery.
Paula Sue Sammons Pierce
The funeral service is at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 16, 2025, at the funeral home. Entombment will follow in Murray City Cemetery.