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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
Lora J. Defore
Lora J. DeFore, of Starkville, passed away Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson following a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 49.
An instructor in the Department of Communication at Mississippi State University for the past 19 years, Ms. DeFore served as the coordinator of the public relations concentration and the Internship Program coordinator. Ms. DeFore was a three-time recipient of the Lambda Pi Eta Faculty Member of the Year Award. Before teaching at MSU, she taught at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn.
She received her bachelor of arts degree in journalism and Spanish in 1982 from Murray State University, her master of arts degree in mass communications in 1984 from Texas Tech University and did her doctoral degree work in journalism at the University of Tennessee.
She was a member of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM), the National Communication Association, Kappa Tau Alpha Mass Communication Honorary Society, the Society of Professional Journalism, Mississippi Press Association and the Department of Communication Scholarship Committee.
She also worked as a part-time page designer and copy editor for the Starkville Daily News for several years.
Ms. DeFore was a long-time supporter of the United Way of North Central Mississippi and an ardent Mississippi State Bulldog fan. Before her illness, she was a mentor for the MSU Women’s Basketball Team and a former guest coach.
When not cheering on the Bulldogs, Ms. DeFore enjoyed the theatre and was a member of the Starkville Community Theatre and the Mississippi Theatre Association. Ms. DeFore enjoyed traveling, especially taking trips with SCT to New York and vacations with her nieces and nephew.
A native of Indiana, she was a lifelong member of the South Side Church of Christ in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
Visitation and a memorial service will be held Friday, Nov. 6, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Chapel of Memories on the MSU campus.
Sturgis Baptist Church pastor Russell Mord, a former student of Ms. DeFore’s, will officiate.
She is survived by her mother, Dolly DeFore Adams of Hopkinsville, Ky.; her brother and sister-in-law, Brett and Karen DeFore of Franklin, Tenn.; her sister, Melinda DeFore of Hopkinsville; four nieces, Taylor DeFore, Mackenzie DeFore and Eliza DeFore of Franklin and Shelby DeFore of Hopkinsville; and a nephew, Jackson DeFore of Franklin.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Lora J. DeFore Scholarship Fund, the Department of Communication, P.O. Box PF, Mississippi State, MS 39762, or to a charity of one’s choice.
Vinita Bigham Tollison Oswalt
MATHISTON — Mrs. Vinita Bigham Tollison Oswalt, 86, died Monday, November 2, 2009 in the Golden Living Center, Eupora.
The funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the First Baptist Church of Mathiston, with burial in the Spring Valley Baptist Church Cemetery.
Visitation was held from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Oliver Funeral Home of Eupora, which is handling the arrangements.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 07 November 2009 )
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