Services for Bobby E. Beard of Ruth are 2 p.m. today, Nov. 4 atProvidence Baptist Church with burial in the church cemetery.Wilson Funeral Home in Monticello is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation began Wednesday at 4 p.m. and will continue until 2p.m. today at the church.

Mr. Beard, 72, died Nov. 2, 2004, at Hospice Ministries inRidgeland. He was born in Lincoln County on Sept. 31, 1932, toEthew I. Beard and Hazel Alexander Beard.

He was a retired foreman with St. Regis and National Papercompanies in Monticello. He was a deacon of Providence BaptistChurch for 38 years, a member of the Gideons and involved withprison and foreign ministries. He was sports announcer at TopekaTilton and coached league softball. He was a veteran of the KoreanWar.

Preceding him in death were his parents; his brothers, Charlesand Harold Beard; and one sister, Josie Nell Lambert.

Survivors are his wife, Juanita Beard of Ruth; his sons, RickeyBeard of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Keith Beard of Jayess; his sister,Joyce Jones of Natchez; his brother, J.T. Beard of Burkeville,Texas; and two grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to The Gideons International.