Hugh O. Lancaster, 97, passed from this life Tuesday, May 6, 2014, at Crossgates River Oaks, Brandon.
Funeral services were Friday, May 9, at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl. Interment followed in the Fellowship Cemetery, Taylorsville.
Rev. Allen Winstead and Rev. Frankie Clark officiated. Eulogies were delivered by Dr. Terrell Tisdale, Mr. Aubrey King and Mr. Algie Broome.
Pallbearers were Jesse Lancaster, Don Jordan, Roger Jordan, Danny Myers, Dr. Ronald Whitehead and Dr. Terrell Tisdale. Honorary pallbearers were Jim Boleware, Algie Broome, Kenneth Holloway, Lindsay Jackson, Aubrey King, Cleatus King, A.W. Brinson, P.J. Lindsey, Buster Jones, Alton Worthy, Jerry Cole and Frank McCray.
Mr. Lancaster was born August 2, 1916, in Smith County to the late Cleveland and Beulah Lancaster and was a graduate of Pineville High School. He served in the U.S. Army 333rd Unit as a Special Service Engineer in Europe during WWII from 1943 to 1945 and the Invasion of Normandy, without a furlough.
Upon his return from service, he attended Jones County Jr. College in Ellisville, where he received his Associate degree in 1946. He then earned his B.S. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1948, and his Master’s degree in school administration from USM in 1951.
He began his teaching career in Lone Star in 1948, where he was also basketball coach. He then went to Carson where he taught school and coached.
Education was his passion and that was evidenced by the influence he had on so many of his students. He had so many wonderful memories of his years at Carson and that is why all honorary pallbearers were former students at Carson.
Mr. Lancaster worked as an investment agent for IDS for 20 years, then returned to teaching at Harrison Central High School as economics teacher for two years, and then to Belaire School as principal until his retirement in 1982.
He married Adie Jordan Lancaster in Raleigh on June 23, 1948. They were happily married for 41 years until her death in 1979. Their most favorite past-time was spending time on the JCJC Campus, where he established a scholarship fund in her memory.
In 1981 he married Edith Rayborn Lancaster. For more than 20 years he spent each day with her at the nursing home where she was a patient, until her death in 2010.
He moved to Brandon in 2009 and to Peach Tree Village in December 2012. He was a member of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, and more recently attended Crossgates United Methodist Church in Brandon.
Survivors include his sisters, Melva Courtney (Charles) and Nina Dunbar; brother, C.C. Lancaster; several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews; stepdaughter, Brenda Hawkins (Rusty); and numerous friends and former students.
Memorials may be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society at www.nationalmssociety.org.