Jean Pickering May, 88, of Mendenhall, passed from this life Thursday, March 9, 2017 at University of Mississippi Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, March 12, 2017 at Colonial Chapel Funeral Home of Mendenhall. Bro. Rodney Anderson will officiate. Burial will be in Mendenhall City Cemetery. Colonial Chapel Funeral Home of Mendenhall is in charge of arrangements, (601)847-4401.

"In the end we only regret the chances we did not take, relationships we were too afraid to have, and decisions we waited too long to make"

"Love is rare, Life is strange, Nothing lasts, People change"

--- Jean kept these posted just under her computer screen as a reminder every day

Jean Pickering May was many things: a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother; a caring friend; a true "homemaker" who always put her family first. Those of us who have had the privilege of spending our lives embraced by hers will always miss her and feel saddened by our loss, but we each, in some measure, will carry her lessons and examples with us through the rest of our lives. She was a woman of substance, of steady resolve, of strong moral center, and of unflappable grace under fire. She had a constant determination to make the best of whatever each day brought. She would flash her brilliant smile when we most needed it as she encouraged each of us to do the same when we were faced with the difficulties life had presented us. She gave approval, love, and wise words, but always with a smile and a hug.

Jean was always busy with a job, a project, or a passion. Her first passion, beginning in her childhood was her music. She complained though that, growing up, she never got to dance because she was the only one who could play boogie woogie piano so her friends could dance! She carried her passion for music into her church service as an adult, playing piano to Miss Elmer Walker's organ and singing in special song presentations, most often with Archie Magee but with others as well.

She and Carroll Thomas were pioneers in the poultry industry. They were one of the first contract growers for McCarty Farms and later with Cal-Maine Foods. In those early days, when nothing was automated or mechanical, she man-handled 100-lb sacks of feed and toted a 5-gallon foot tub on her hip, scattering chicken feed by hand (she complained for years about the callouses on her hip)!!! Later, after automation made the chicken house easy enough for our dad to handle, she moved on to other work -- she really enjoyed her jobs and the people she worked with in each of them became lifelong, treasured friends. She worked with the Stephen's family at Lloyd's Style Shop, with Abby and Jaris Patrick at the Sears Store, and, last but longest, with Sullivan's True Value Hardware Store. At Sullivan's she was surrounded by family: niece Cindy and Tommy Sullivan, Aunt Bennie and Uncle Truett, cousins Sylvia Roberts and Gloria Thomas, sister Anne Benton, and the others who worked there who became an adopted family for her as well. Each was dear to her.

Some of you may know that Jean was a truly dedicated gardener, a plant person who knew other plant people all over the state and even in other parts of the Southeast. Many of these people she knew only through the mail, finding them in Farm Bulletin ads in the 50s and 60s, ads that wanted "10 cents for 10 seeds for purty pink flowers, send self-addressed stamped envelope " or "$1 for 5 daylily starts." In the 50s Jean started buying plants just outside the Kemp's backdoor in Magee, before it became a nursery; Sallie and Kemp became dear friends -- years later Kemp's turned into Hand's Nursery and it continued as her favorite place to visit and talk plants, now with Linda and Jackie. The only thing Jean enjoyed more than digging in her yard was sharing her love of plants with others, whether friends, family, or total strangers standing in a line with her buying plants. She even succeeded in turning some of her kids into gardeners as well. Many of you may have plants she gave you still growing in your yards and you should know that, despite her claims of a failing memory, she could still walk around her yard and name each person who had given her a cutting of this shrub, a pot of that perennial, some tubers of iris, seeds and so on. Today her garden is a testament to almost sixty-five years spent subduing a bare, red clay hill into a green and peaceful space filled with beauty and memories.

One of the things we cannot overlook about Mother is her passion for cooking and showing her love by feeding the people she cared about, sometimes with waaaay too much, but always great, food. One of our friends once said that he had never before seen a family where everyone in the family cooked but that was the way it has been, everyone with their individual areas of special skills. We got that from our mother's enthusiasm for the process of making good food and a love of providing for her family, the people who helped our father and brother Rusty on the farm, and the catering she did for companies and groups. She especially loved having recipes from friends and other family members—they maintained her connections with people she cared about. Awhile back we were looking at her recipe books and it read like a social history of Mendenhall and the First Baptist Church family. Recipes like the Round Table Hotel Rice Casserole, Sue Grubbs' Grits Casserole, Pat Ponder's Broccalli Casserole, Grace's (Warren) Vegetable Salad, Aunt Mary Gardner's Pound Cake, Granny's Hush Puppies, Diane's (Lowery) Chicken Casserole, Mrs. Bank's Coconut Cake, to name just a few. Some of you will know those recipes or the names of those who shared them. However complex or simple, Jean treasured them all as passed-along wisdom and used them daily and shared them again and again.

Jean was known for her beautiful smiles and she smiled her biggest when talking about her family. Her nephew Brad White shared some of his thoughts about Jean (always called Auntie among the Benton family):

She showed her love for her family in many different, but always effective, ways. I remember not too long before Ma Maw [her sister Anne] passed away, Auntie cooked a full course meal. She and Uncle Carroll brought it to Ma Maw's house so the sisters could have lunch together. I got to join them that day. Pa Paw Bud had to walk outside and around the house for a bit when Auntie and Uncle Carroll arrived. The scene of Auntie doing all of this for Ma Maw, not to mention the reason behind it, moved him to tears. I can't say enough: Auntie loved big. "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Those words inspired by the Holy Spirit 2,000 years ago describe Jean May. And, of her life we can say, "She got it right."

Visitation will be held on Saturday, March 11, 2017 from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Colonial Chapel Funeral Home of Mendenhall.

Mrs. May is survived by her Children; Randall May Heath (Kingston), Springfield, Oregon, William Thomas May (Pat), Magee, Rusty May (Susan), Mendenhall; Grand Children - Wilder Heath (Catie), Seattle, Washington, William Thomas May, Jr., Magee,Steven Magee May, Magee, Madelyn May Trosclair (JP), Petal, Meagan Carroll May, New Orleans, Louisana, Christopher Wayne Lancaster , Mendenhall, Cathryn Finnegan (Roger), Florence; 11 great-grandchildren.

Mrs. May is preceded in death by her Husband - Carroll Thomas May; Parents, Belton and Annie Lou Pickering; Sister - Anne Benton, Grand daughter - Deanna May Couch.