The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 31

Sunday, November 3, 1996 Page 13B OlbDnaaEries A I it j- X- Ground control Dalton, George Hammond of Trion, Merl Hammond of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Earl Hammond of Pensacola, 13 and 18 great-grandchildren. 1 Pallbearers will be Bryan Pike, Ricky Pike, Trey Cantrell, Danny Fisher, Teddy Cantrell and Mark Pike. Skinner FRUITHURST Services for Leona Skinner, 84, will be today at 4 p.m. (EST) at Fruithurst Baptist Church with Miller Funeral Home of Tallapoosa, in charge. Burial will be in Upper Cane Creek Church Cemetery.

Mrs. Skinner died Thursday. Survivors include three daughters: Ruth Pudder and Dorothy Skinner, both of Fruithurst, and Irene Kiker of Ranburne; four sons: Roger Skinner, Ronald Skin-ner and Ivan Skinner, all of Fruithurst, and Rev. John Skinner of Heflin; 19 grandchildren; and 39 great-grandchildren. Mrs.

Skinner, a Cleburne County native, was preceded in death by her husband, Milton Skinner. Surrett Services for Alraune Ruth Surrett, 46, of 439 Sunny Eve Road, Anniston, are today at Miller Funeral Home with Gary Burns officiating. Burial will be in Dogwood Trail Cemetery. Mrs. Surrett died Saturday at her home.

Survivors include a daughter, Heidi Surrett Rogers of Oxford; two sons: Ernie D. Surrett of Talladega and Tim Surrett of Oxford; her mother, Ursula Medryk of Chicago, six sisters: Sylvia Medryk, Becky Kaluzny and Inga DeAquino, all of Chicago, Heidi Attaway of Lexington, Julia Mullally of Oxford and Angie Bammerlin of Palm City, three brothers: Norbert Hanke of Germany and Michael Medryk and Edward Medryk, both of Chicago; and four grandchildren. Pallbearers will be: Kenneth Presley, Donnie Lett, Tommy Gee, S.O. Kemp, Dennis Bryant, Jerry Ingram and Travis Whitfield. A native of Germany, Mrs.

Surrett had been a resident of Anniston for the past 25 years. She was employed by Quincy's of Oxford and was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Windham ASHLAND Services for James E. Windham 80, will be today at 2 p.m. at Talladega Funeral Home with Rev.

Billy Epperson officiating. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery. Mr. Windham died Friday at Talladega Health Care Center. Survivors include his wife, Leola Windham of Ashland; three daughters: Helen Carter of Selma, Joyce Woods of Mobile and Linda Feazell of Talladega; three sons: Woodrow Windham of Trinity, James E.

Windham Jr. of Clinton and John Windham of Mississippi. Pallbearers will be: James Carter, James Thrower, Steve Parker, David Jones, Jim Mathis and Allen Miller. Mr. Windham was a native of Mississippi and resident of Ash-land the past seven years.

He was a retired farmer and member of Shining Light Baptist Church in Clay County. Catina Swain takes on an annual autum project that usually finds its fair share of procrastinators raking up her yard's collection of fallen foliage. Ms. Swain works earnestly on the leaves in her yard on Moore Avenue in Anniston. British Telecom buying MCI, creating phone global gorilla' Allen Services for Alice Louise Allen, 70, of 410 Rosewood Annis-ton, will be Monday at 2 p.m.

at Gray Brown Service Mortuary with Revs. David Vincent and Jimmy Nunnally officiating. Burial will be in Forestlawn Gardens. The family will receive friends this evening from 6 to 8 at the funeral home. Mrs.

Allen died Saturday at her home. Survivors include her husband, Ross Allen of Anniston; two sis-ters: Arilla Johnson of Anniston and Idella Hughes of Blue Moun-tain; two brothers: Willie Clark of Oxford and Arlin Clark of Hefljn. Pallbearers will be: Keith Allen, Robert Clark, Stanley Clark, James Clark, Heinz Kuhn, Jack Carter and Tommie Clark. Mrs. Allen was a native of Cleburne County and resident of Anniston for over 50 years.

She was a member of Blue Mountain Baptist Church and 'retired from Blue Mountain Industries, where she was employed several years. Memorials may be made to Hospice of East Alabama, P.O. Box 2581, Anniston, AL 36201. Bentley MUSCADINE Services for Billy Bentley, 69, a Cleburne County be today at 2 p.m. (EST) at; Bethel Methodist Church with Revs.

Benny Abney and Allen Abney officiating. Burial will be in the adjoining cemetery with Miller Funeral Home of Tallapoosa, in charge. Mr. Bentley -died Thursday. Survivors include his wife, Imogene Parker Bentley of Muscadine; a daughter, Cynthia Webb of Muscadine; two sons: Jeffery Bentley of New Orleans and Richard Bentley of Muscadine; a brother, Ralph Bentley of Tallapoosa; and three grandsons: Chris Bentley, Matthew Webb and Jonathan Webb.

Pallbearers will be: Jeffery Bentley, Richard Bentley, Dennis Bentley, Randell Parker, Jarrod Parker, Gary Chadwick, Wesley Sheffield and Horace Perry. Champion Graveside services for Ralph B. Champion. 100 Mulberry Annsiton, are today at 2 p.m. at Oxford Memorial Cemetery with Capt.

Paul McFarland and Don Patman officiating and Gray Brown Service Mortuary in charge. Mr. Champion died Friday at Regional Medical Center. Survivors include his wife, Lucille Bryant Champion of Annis-ton; two daughters: Martha Kinder and Phyllis Frisby, both of Annis-ton; eight sons: Jerry Champion of Holt, Jimmy Champion and Ricky Champion, both of Annis-ton; Wayne Champion and Danny Champion, both of Oxford, Donald Champion of Pinson, Randy Champion of Gadsden and Stevie Champion of Bynum; a brother, Dick Champion of Jacksonville; 30 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren. Pallbearers will be: Harold Turner, Steve Mockabce, Jim Kilgore, James Walker, Robert Chapman and Stanley Rollins.

A native of Jacksonville, Mr. Champion was a resident of Anniston most of his life. He was retired from Adelaide Mills after 40 years of service. Mr. Champion was a member of the Salvation Army Church, a former Boy Scout Leader for Troop No.

103 in Anniston and a former church league softball coach. Henry OXFORD Services for Melvin Michael Henry, 49, of 1911 Friendship Road, will be today at 2 p.m. at Gray Brown-Service Mortuary with Rev. Clyde Roberts officiating. Burial will be in Anniston Memorial Gardens.

Mr. Henry died Saturday at Regional Medical Center. Survivors include his wife, Linda Phillips Henry of Oxford; two daughters: Christa Tanner and Gina Ashley Henry, both of Oxford; three sisters: Diane Bailey of Valley, Nancy Slaton of Alexandria and Susan Darby of Anniston; a brother, Fred Henry of Ohatchee; and a grandson, Cam-eron Henry Tanner of Oxford. Pallbearers will be: Keith Winn, Dwayne Darby, Deshane Darby, Jason Henry, Michael Henry and Lynn Winfrey. Mr.

Henry, a Birmingham native, was a resident of Oxford since 1969.,.. He was a member of Grace Baptist Church in Oxford. He was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran during the Vietnam War and a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans. He was a retired welder.

Johnson Services for William Grady Johnson, 73, of 107 East 20th Anniston, are today at 3:30 p.m. at Gray Brown Service Mortuary with Rev. Mike Holcomb officiating. Burial will be in Forestlawn Gardens. Mr.

Johnson died Saturday at Regional Medical Center. Survivors include his wife, Louise Noble Johnson of Anniston; two daughters: Rita Burk of Powder Springs, Ga. and Peggy Dunaway of Pell City; four grandchildren: Chuck Houston, Jennifer Williams, Denny Dunaway and Jamie Dunaway. Pallbearers will be deacons of Westwood Baptist Church. A native of Cleburne County, Mr.

-Johnson was a resident of Anniston for the past 60 years. He was a member of Westwood Baptist Church where he served as a deacon. He served in the Navy and was a veteran of World War II. He was also a member of VFW Post No. 924.

He was retired from Anniston Ordinance Depot. Keith BIRMINGHAM Services for Laura Boswell Keith, 83, will be Monday at 11 a.m. at St. Mary's on the Highlands. John's Rideout Southside Chapel will be in charge.

Entombment will be in Elm wood Mausoleum. Mrs. Keith died in Birmingham. Survivors include two daugh-. ters: Linda Stanford and Patricia Pollard, both of Birmingham; and five grandchildren.

Mrs. Keith was preceded in death by her husband, James Keith III, a grandson of Samuel Noble, one of the founders of Anniston. She spent a number of years in Anniston before moving to Birm-ingham. She was the granddaughter of the late Lewis Archer Boswell, Surgeon General in the Civil War. She was a member of St.

Mary's on the Highlands! Lygren ROANOKE Services for Lucille Lygren, 81, of Roanoke will be announced by Quattlebaum Funeral Home. Mrs. Lygren died Saturday at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika. Pike Services for Katie Mae Pike, 87, of Roanoke are today at 2 p.m. at Handley Avenue Church of God with Revs.

Gary Baugh and Bill Calhoun officiating. Burial will follow at Randolph Memory Gardens with Quattlebaum Funeral Home in charge. The body will be at the church an hour prior to service time. Mrs. Pike died Friday at Traylor Nursing Home.

Survivors include two daughters: Shirley Smith of LaGrange, and Joyce Cantrell of Roanoke; three sons: Billy Pike of Roanoke, Gene Pike of Lincoln and Royce Pike of Augusta, five sisters: Gladys Mazzolla of Marietta, Mary Will Clayton of Calhoun, Clois Hicks of Dayton, Hurene Anderson of Sumfherville, and Hazel Garrett of Litchfield, four brothers: Eligie Hammond of 1 Bill WilsonThe Anniston Star ers have been coming at a frenzied pace, first emerged Friday when MCI disclosed it was talking to the British phone giant. In fact, the two have been in discussions of one sort or another ever since 1994, when British Telecom bought a 20 percent stake in MCI. The British Telecom purchase is for the remaining 80 percent of MCI's shares. The exact price could not immediately be determined, but sources said it was between $36 and $38 a share. At $38, the deal would be worth $21 billion.

At $36 it is about $1 billion less. A final proportion for the cash and stock wasn't clear, although at one point the boards were considering payment of 60 percent cash for the MCI shares. The company has 690 million shares outstanding, including those, held by British Telecom. The merger would by far be the biggest foreign takeover of a U.S. company and mark the end of independence for MCI, a storied business in its own right that in some ways is responsible for the competi- -tion that's transformed the U.S.

telecommunications industry. It was the persistence of MCI more than 12 years ago that forced the breakup of the Ma Bell monopoly. An MCI-British Telecommunications marriage also would radically reorder the landscape of phn service providers in the months since Congress enacted a sweeping deregulation that allows long-distance companies to compete with local phone companies and vice versa. Calendar Today Churches Anniversaries: Greater Thankful Baptist, 3025 W. 14th Anniston, 3 p.m., 107th celebration program, with the Rev.

Quintin Woods and members of Mount Calvary Baptist, Anniston. God's Covenant Ministry, 4 p.m., second anniversary program. City Meeting Center, 1615 Noble St, Anniston, with Pastor Billy R. -Johnson and members of New' Covenant Christian Ministries, Atlanta; Pastor Derrick Houston and members of the Warriors and the Word; Pastor Wallace Cooley and members of Faith Outreach -Ministries; and Pastor Julie Turner and members of A Prayer Connection Ministries." Miscellaneous: Bethel Missionary Baptist, 801 Boynton Anniston, 3 p.m., youth day observance, with Thomas Baker of Mount Olive Baptist, Heflin, and the First Missionary Baptist Youth Choir of Anniston. Saint Paul C.M.E., East Vann Street, Jacksonville, 5 p.m., county-wide fellowship service with the Rev.

Keith Mitchell. Salem Baptist, Eastaboga, 2:30 p.m., annual family day program, with elder James Collins and members of New Hope Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Leeds. Oak Ridge Baptist, Hobson City, 2:30 p.m., junior and senior usher -m board day, with Charles Kirkpatrick and members of United Christian Assembly of God, Hobson City. -To attend the 14th Annual Prayer Breakfast on Nov. 21 with Clive Rainey of Habitat for Humanity at Shocco Springs Baptist Assembly, Talladega, call 205-362-9075.

Tickets are also available at the Chamber of Commerce in Talladega, Childersburg and Sylacauga. Seventeenth Street' Baptist, Anniston, 4 p.m'.,program honoring Rev. Dr. N.Q. Reynold's 36 years of' service, with Rev.

Qu'inton Himmftnfic nactnr nf Anfinrh Baptist, Kev. t. Kanaau usDom. Revivals: ji rrt urace napusi, zuio ninion invc, Oxford, today, 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Monday-Wednesday, 6:30 nightly, with Keith Fordham.

Miscellaneous -i -iay vuumy online viuu fiu.o.oj Run No. 9, 9 a.m., with entertainment, crafts, auto show, food, I Recreation Park. Alabama 9 North. Proceeds go to benefit the Alcazar Shrine Crippled and Burned Children's Transport Fund. Call 205-488-5661, 205-396-2058 or 205-354-7732.

Monday Meetings Calhoun-Cleburne Nurses Association, 6:30 p.m., Calhoun-Cleburne Mental Health Center, s-iniiiaiuii. Voters to decide fate of 3 Nebraska towns Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. -One of the biggest questions before vwers in three Nebraska towns isn't Clinton or Dole it's whether to be or not to be. A town, that is. Voters in Tamora, Marsland and Dickens will decide Tuesday whether to abolish incorporation, which would dissolve the'lowns within three years.

In Marsland, population six in northwest Nebraska, and Dickens, population 13, voters will probably vote to make the towns fade off the maps VisionSouth Zi Cataract, iasar Refractiv Surgary C. Michael Adams, M.D. A Professional Corporation Medicare, Medicaid and Most Insurances Accepted By Farrell Kramer Associated Press NEW YORK British Telecommunications has agreed to buy MCI Communications for as much as $21 billion, the biggest foreign purchase ever of a U.S. company. The boards of both, companies agreed Saturday on the deal, a cash and stock transaction worth between $36 and $38 a share, said sources speaking on condition of anonymity.

A formal announcement of the merger is to be made at news conferences today in London and New York. A combined British Telecom and MCI would provide a powerful competitor to the world's largest long-distance phone company. It would have combined revenue of $35 billion and two marquee brand names with operations in more than 70 countries. "You really only have had one internationally recognized global player and that's been said Gary Miller, president of Aragon Consulting Group, which izes on telecommunications and technology. "Now you have another global gorilla." MCI, the nation's No.

2 long-di's- tance company, would continue to under its name and keep a headquarters in Washington. British Telecommunications PLC is based in London. No further details of the combination were available. Word of the mammoth deal, one of the largest mergers ever during a year when multibillion dollar merg For The Record Junior "Sparky" Duncan was survived by his wife, Betty Duncan of Riverside. Eisenhower-era diplomat Eleanor Lansing Dulles dies Do You Have Cataracts? Discover No-Stitch Cataract Removal You can see the difference almost Immediately! No shots, no patches, no stitches No hospital stay Little or no discomfort Faster vision Improvement Quicker return to activities Dr.

Michael Adams Is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and has performed thousands of no-stltch cataract procedures. V. .1 '1 7 Jl 14 If 1 L-I III an uncle, Robert Lansing, held that post under President Wilson. Ms. Dulles worked for the State Department during World.

War II and led that department's important Berlin desk in the 1950s, helping post-war West Berlin to recover. She wrote 13 books, covering U.S. foreign and European politics. In 1963, she wrote about the life of John Foster Dulles in "John Foster Dulles, The Last Year." She also wrote her own memoirs. Ms.

Dulles was in Watertown, N.Y., on June 1, 1895, the daughter of Allen M. and Edjth Foster Dulles. She was a 1917 graduate of Bryn Mawr College and earned her Ph.D. from Radcliffe in 1926. Associated Press WASHINGTON Eleanor Lansing Dulles, a former U.S.

diplomat and educator as well a member of one of America's most prominent families, has died at the age of 101. She died Wednesday at a military retirement facility in Washington due to complications related to a stroke. Ms. Dulles had two famous brothers: John Foster Dulles, who was president Eisenhower's sccic-tary of state, and Allen Dulles, who was Eisenhower's director of central, intelligence. Her grandfather, John Watson Foster, was secretary of state under President Benjamin Harrison, and Mountain Brook Center 2700 Highway 280, Suite 112 Birmingham, Alabama 800-457-2394 Local offices In: Bessemer, Childersburg, Gadsden, Cardendale, Haleyvllle, Hamilton, Jasper, Montgomery, Pell City, Selma, Sylacauga.