Friday, April 28, 2006
Published 11:33 pm Thursday, April 27, 2006
Kenneth Eldridge
Heavy equipment operator
DEKALB — Graveside services for Kenneth “Bollweviel” Eldridge will be held today at 11:30 a.m. at New Hope Methodist Church Cemetery with the Rev. Dr. Owen Gordon officiating. Stephens Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Eldridge, 66, of DeKalb, died Wednesday, April 26, 2006, in his home.
Visitation will be today until 11 a.m. at the funeral home.
Thomas Ray Eubanks
Retired
Services for Thomas Ray Eubanks will be held Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Barham Funeral Home chapel with the Revs. James K. Williams and Don Talley officiating. Burial will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Mr. Eubanks, 81, of Meridian, died Thursday, April 27, 2006, in Meridian. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force and served in World War II. He was a member of First Church of God.
Survivors include his wife, Louise Eubanks of Meridian; sons, Jim Eubanks and his wife, Sandra, of Collinsville, Leonard Eubanks and his wife, Barbara, and Mike Eubanks and his wife, Dawn, all of Meridian; a daughter, Raelene Pitman and her husband, Jeff, of Terry; grandchildren, Shaun Eubanks and his wife, Kim, Shannon Purvis and her husband, Steve, Jason Eubanks and his wife, Jessica, Jeremy Eubanks, Kayla Eubanks, Marla Eubanks, Stephanie Dawkins and Jonathan Dawkins; several great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be today from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
Robert Franklin
Graveside services for Robert Franklin will be held Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Spring Hill Cemetery with the Rev. Charles Goodwin officiating. Berry and Gardner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Franklin, 63, of Meridian, died Wednesday, April 26, 2006, at Brookwood Manor in Leakesville.
Visitation will be today from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. at the funeral home.
Frank K. Spain
TUPELO — Frank Kyle Spain, 78, of Tupelo died Tuesday, April 25, 2006, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. The family is honoring Mr. Spain’s request for no service or visitation. Mr. Spain’s ashes will be privately buried on a hillside in his beloved Montana retreat at a later date. Holland Harris Funeral Directors is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Spain was born in North Lewisburg, Ohio, on Nov. 29, 1927. His parents were the late Walter D. Spain, owner of the former Spain Funeral Home and Letha Mefford Spain, a public school teacher.
He grew up in Lee County, and was educated in the Tupelo Public Schools and graduated from Mississippi State University with honors at age 19 with a degree in electrical engineering. He was fascinated early in life with electronics and broadcasting and worked for the NBC network in Washington D.C. for several years. There, he was among the early broadcasters to develop color TV and live broadcasting. In 1957, with a strong desire for his hometown to have a television station, he founded and built WTWV, now WTVA, an NBC affiliate. He built the antenna, transmitter and switcher from the ground up. WTWV was the first Mississippi station to broadcast educational programming, which was his tribute to educating Mississippi’s school children. He later owned and operated the CBS affiliate in West Palm Beach, Fla., the CBS affiliate in Meridian and an independent station in Flagstaff, Ariz. He also owned and operated a microwave service company with clients from California to Florida. He was known internationally in broadcast circles and in 2005, was awarded the Gold Circle Emmy for 50 years Lifetime Achievement in Broadcasting. Mr. Spain was a quiet, gentle philanthropist and was founder and benefactor of the nonprofit educational foundation the Tupelo Automobile Museum, one of the most extensive personal collections of vintage automobiles in America. WTVA was his pride and joy and he often bragged that he could take the Channel 9 Staff anywhere in the world and they would be second to none. He loved the outdoors, especially his home in Montana. He was a lifetime member of the First United Methodist Church in Tupelo.
Survivors include his wife of 21 years, Jane Lingard Spain of Tupelo and Hobe Sound, Fla.; his children, Kyle Spain and his wife, Reese, of Los Angeles, Dee Spain and his wife, Gina, of Tupelo, Sharon Spain of San Francisco, and Matt Dee and his fiancee, Aimee Lou Ross of Hobe Sound; grandchildren, Graham and Liam Spain, both of Los Angeles and his WTVA family and broadcast friends around the country.
Memorials may be made to the Tupelo Automobile Museum, 1 Otis Drive, Tupelo, MS 38804 or to the Houston School District Solar Race Team c/o Houston Board of Education, P.O. Drawer 351, Houston, MS 38851.
A registry will be available for friends and associates to sign in the Spain Room, so named for his parents at Holland-Harris Funeral Directors Tupelo Chapel from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. today. A collection of letters and personal expressions celebrating the life and legacy of Frank Spain may be viewed at www.wtva.com by clicking on the “Frank Spain Memories” link. Once on the page, you may use the form to submit your fondest memories of him.