David "Son" Puckett

TUPELO - David O. "Son" Puckett, 85, died Saturday, Oct. 29, 2005, at the North Mississippi Medical Center after a short illness. The son of David O. Puckett Sr. and Clytee Yates Puckett, he was a lifelong resident of Tupelo. He was former owner of Tupelo Lumber Company and a member of the First United Methodist Church of Tupelo.

He served in the Naval Air Corps during World War II, flying off of carriers in the Atlantic and Pacific from 1941 to 1946 and was a P.O.W. He was a graduate of Tupelo High School in 1937 and graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, The Moak's and Cardinal Club, Delta Sigma Pi and Hermean YMCA. He was a former member of the Kiwanis Club and the C.D.F. of Tupelo. He served on the Board of Directors of the Yocona Area Boy Scouts of America and received the Silver Beaver Award and as former chairman of the Lee County Chapter of the American Red Cross. He served as past president of Tupelo County Club, Director of First Financial Savings and Loan Association, and former national director of the Mississippi Retail Dealers Association and former board member of Tupelo Housing Authority and the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Bill McAlilly officiating. Burial will be in Tupelo Memorial Park. W.E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.

Survivors include one son, David O. Puckett III of Tupelo; his brother and sister-in-law, Nathaniel L. Armistead of Atlanta, Ga., and their children, Nathaniel Armistead, David Armistead, John Armistead, Farrar Armistead and Beaux Armistead.

He was preceded in death b his wife, Elizabeth "Betsy" Puckett; and two daughters, Bet Puckett and Debbie Puckett.

Pallbearers will be Dan Ballard, Kevin Kirk, Richard Porter, Presley Wallace, Al Wallace, Scott Reed, Jack Reed Jr. and John Hardy. Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Eugene Murphey, Henry Brevard, Robert McNutt, George Adams, George Maynard and Jack Reed Sr.