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Obituary for James Eugene Carruth
James “Jimmy” Eugene Carruth, 76, of Brandon, Mississippi went to be with his Heavenly Father on Monday, November 26, 2018, surrounded by his family at Select/Specialty Hospital of Belhaven. He was the son of Leslie Edwin Carruth and Mellgwin Hewitt Pate. He was preceded in death by his parents; step father, Joseph Lee Pate; his brother, Leslie “Butch” Edwin Carruth, Jr.; Grandson, William Allen Carruth . He is survived by his wife Paulette; son, Russell Carruth (Debbie) of Prattville, AL; 2 daughters, Ginger Cooper (Jimmy) of Gatlinburg, TN.; Jill Waterbury (Scott) of Brandon, MS; two sisters, Sylvia Gardenhire of Baton Rouge, LA; Kate Slonaker (Randy) of Summit, MS; Nine grandchildren, Megan Carruth, Mikayla Carruth, Houston Rawlinson, James Cooper III, Brantley Cooper, Emrie Cooper, Kyle Waterbury, Alex Waterbury, Andi Waterbury and great grandson, Asher Wells Wingo and a host of nieces and nephews. He graduated from Mars Hill High School in 1960 and then attended Air Condition/Refrigeration Vocational School at Hinds Jr. College. In 1962 he married Paulette Wells and they began their 56 year life’s journey together. He worked at Seale-Lilly Ice Cream Company for 17 years as head of the maintenance department until they sold to Borden’s Ice Cream Company in 1981. He worked for Stop and Go/Circle K for the next 9 years before joining GSA in 1991 to oversee the courthouse and federal building maintenance for the next 17 years. Although work was important, nothing was as important as serving his family, friends and the people he knew. To him, the term family was not just limited to his physical family, but it was always expanded to his friends as evidenced by all of the multi-family (6-8 families) vacations he planned and coordinated each year, the basketball, baseball and softball teams he took time out to coach, and the love and leadership he provided to his neighborhood. One of the highlights of his coaching career was winning the Dixie Youth Debs State Championship in 1987 and going to the World Series where his team finished in second place. To this day, he could still tell you the names of every girl and their families on all of his teams. He was a people person and he loved socializing and being with people of all walks of life. It was once said, you could put him in a room with 50 people and an hour later he could tell you their names and something about each of their families. His love of the outdoors was a lifelong affair. Although he loved deer hunting , there was nothing that got him as excited as seeing a limb shaking early on a fall morning with a squirrel feeding on acorns or the pulling and thrashing of a big catfish on one of his trot lines. He loved to fish and fortunately for his family, friends, and neighborhood, he also loved cooking for everybody just as much. He was famous for his fish fry’s and hushpuppies, which he took great pride in sharing. It was nothing for the “Mayor of Marblehead” or the “Neighborhood PawPaw” to load up a bunch of kids and take them fishing or camping. Kids always seemed to migrate to his house and there was always love and entertainment for all of them. Not sure who got more out of the entertainment….him or the kids. His love for people paled in comparison to his love for the Lord. He ensured we were in church every time the doors opened and his legacy will live on in each child, grandchild and through the impact he made on the lives of all the people whose path he crossed. However, his greatest single achievement in life will be the fact that every single family member, children and grandchildren, have accepted Christ as their personal Savior and will be re-united with him in Glory…one day. We love you and will miss you, but we will carry you with us always in everything we do and say. We rejoice in knowing you are whole and in the presence of Jesus now and that we will all join you there one day. The family would like to thank the Staff/Nurses at Select Specialty Hospital for the excellent care and compassion to our beloved Jimmy and his family. Also a special thank you to the medical team that cared for him: Dr. Chris Waterer, Dr. Lee Nichols, Dr. Maria Rappai, Dr. Thomas LaGarde, Dr. Brett Barrett, and Dr. Murphy Martin. Pallbearers are: His Nine Grandchildren, and two Sons in Law Scott Waterbury and Jimmy Cooper. In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made to the Brandon Baptist Church Children’s Building Fund, Brandon Baptist Church, 100 Brandon Baptist Drive, Brandon, MS 39042-2216.
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