John Richard Wright

Published 12:52 pm Monday, July 7, 2025

A Celebration of Life for Mr. John Richard Wright of Brookhaven was held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at Riverwood Family with visitation 5-8 p.m. on Monday, June 23, at Riverwood. Burial followed at Easthaven Cemetery.

Mr. Wright was a graduate of Brookhaven High School in 1965 and was a member of the men’s basketball team and track team. He graduated from Copiah-Lincoln Community College and was also a member of the Men’s Basketball Team from 1965 to 1967. He was a member of the Lincoln County Livestock Association, where he was named Livestock Producer of the Year in 2009, as well as a member of the American Quarter Horse Association and the American Paint Horse Association, where he was a top breeder of halter horses with World Champion bloodlines. He was a member of Central Baptist Church.

As a child, he was mischievous and playful and could be found aggravating his younger sisters as most big brothers do. But it wasn’t all play growing up on a farm. He learned the value of hard work, determination, and perseverance. His interest in cattle and farming was birthed at an early age through the Lincoln County 4-H Club in school. As he grew older, he continued to help out on the farm while attending school and becoming

a successful basketball player in high school and college. However, at the tender age of 19, he coped with the sudden loss of his father and had to grow up extremely fast. He, then, followed in the steps of his father and embraced the responsibilities of managing his mom and dad’s farm, raising cattle, and becoming the cattleman and rancher, he is today.

He was an avid quail hunter and enjoyed a wonderful trip to South Dakota for a pheasant hunt with his son Ricky. He and Brook enjoyed traveling and showing champion bloodline quarter horses all over the country in Western Pleasure and Halter. They won several Futurities.

He also enjoyed fishing for white perch with many of his family and friends. He enjoyed gatherings for his family and friends, hosting them at his delicious fish frys.

He was a local celebrity at his favorite eating establishment 84 Chevron (aka Hood’s 76). You could find him there daily, socializing with friends and strangers who would soon become his friends at any given time.

You could probably hear him before you could see him.

They affectionately named him the “Mayor” of 84 Chevron.

If you happened to run into him, you may be talking with him for a while, because he was never at a loss for words. He was a man of strong convictions. You always knew where you stood with him, and most people have said that he was never afraid to speak his mind.

He followed all sports, especially basketball, baseball, and football at any level, including his local high school and college. But his favorite games were those of his grandchildren. He was one of their biggest fans at any of their sporting events in their early years and all through their high school and college careers. You could always find “the man with the cowboy hat” at any one of them. He loved to coach them up and enjoyed watching them.  But most of all, he loved them. His newest love and joy of his life, was his favorite great-grandson, John Hayes, whom he adored.

He was very fortunate to have such a special, kind-hearted person in his life to share his day-today. Barbara Jo Foster was his dearest friend and constant companion. You could find them together always with family, at church, sporting events, or just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. He thrived when she was near, and her presence was a source of comfort, calmness, and he lit up every time she was near.

His family will now rest in the comfort of knowing that Richard was a child of God, and they look forward to seeing that cowboy hat in heaven.

Preceding him in death are his parents, Virgil Elzie Wright and Marjorie Dell Cato; and stepfather, Charles Beard (Charlie Angel).

Those left to cherish his memory are his sons, Ricky Wright, and wife, Dwana Lea Wright, and Brook Wright; sisters, Belenda Wright Statham (Gary) and children, and Judy Wright Ballard (Plez) and their children; and grandchildren, Laura Elizabeth Wright and John Coker Wright (Jordan); and great-grandson, John Hayes Wright; and his dearest friend and constant companion, Barbara Jo Foster.

The family thanks those who attended his homegoing. It was a comfort to know that the Wright Family was surrounded by the love and thoughts of friends who joined them as they reflected, paid tribute, and shared memories.