SERVICES:  Saturday, December 23, 2023

Graveside

11:00 a.m.

INTERMENT:  Tiger Creek Cemetery

VISITATION:  Saturday, December 23, 2023

Graveside

10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Graveside services for Mrs. Floria Ava Merle Crosby Brewer, age 87, of Ovett, will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, December 23, 2023 at Tiger Creek Cemetery in Ovett.  Floria passed away peacefully at her home on December 20, 2023 after a battle with cancer.  Bro. Johnny Bryant will officiate the service.  Serving as pallbearers will be Burl Crosby, Mark Crosby, Ross Crosby, and Jerry Wayne Crosby.  Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Marlon Brewer and Shaun McLain.

Merle was born on June 7, 1936 in Stringer, Mississippi, but moved to the Ovett area with her family in 1950.  She graduated from Whitfield School in 1954 as salutatorian of her class.  Merle married Eugene L. "Junior" Brewer, Jr. in 1953.   They were married for 53 years until his death in 2007.  Merle was retired from Ellisville State School where she worked in food service for 11 years.

Merle was a member of Friendship Baptist Church in Ellisville.   She and her husband worked with the youth department for several years and touched many lives.  She also taught Sunday school for almost 20 years before her declining health made her housebound.  She enjoyed leading Bible studies in the church as well as at Jones County Rest Home in Ellisville.

Merle was preceded in death by her husband, Eugene Leonard "Junior" Brewer; and son, Willie E. "Gene" Brewer; parents, Willie and Maggie Ruth Crosby; and brothers, Elton B. "Billy Ray" Crosby and Arthur Ray Crosby.

She is survived by her sons, Marlon Brewer of Ovett and Dexter (Mary) Bender of Petal; daughter, Tammie Brewer (Billy) James of Laurel; grandchildren, Heather James (Shaun) McLain of Waynesboro, Morgan Brewer of Hattiesburg, and Allyson Brewer of Purvis; great grandchildren, Kaelyn Conkle, Avarie Conkle, Finn McLain, and Colt McLain, all of Waynesboro; and a host of loving nieces and nephews residing in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.