Jessie Stephens Lunday

Jessie Stephens Lunday, age 97, wife of the late Val Lunday, Sr. of Biloxi, died on Thursday, November 10, 2016, in Gulfport, MS.
The daughter of Jesse Stephens of Nashville, Tennessee, and Addie King Stephens of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Mrs. Lunday was a native of Hattiesburg but had lived in Biloxi most of her life. She came to the Coast in 1936 at the age of 17 to work as a hairdresser after graduating from Cowart's School of Beauty Culture in Hattiesburg. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Biloxi, a former member of the Hesperides (Queen - 1949), Billikens (Queen - 1952) and Les Femmes carnival organizations, the Magnolia Garden Club, Biloxi Junior Woman's Club, Elks Auxiliary, and a current member of the Gulf Coast Bridge Association. An ardent bridge player all of her adult life, Mrs. Lunday reached the American Contract Bridge League's Life Master level in 1978. She retained a sharp mind and a great sense of humor on into her golden years and will be dearly missed by all who knew her.
Mrs. Lunday was preceded in death by her husband and parents; sister, Pauline McGowen Danford of Sierra Vista, Arizona, and brother, Peter Jerome McGowen of Huntsville, Alabama.
She is survived by a daughter, Carolyn Lunday Wispell of Grand Prairie, Texas; a son, Val Lunday, Jr. (Kaaren) of Richardson, Texas; four grandchildren, Clay Wispell II (Sue) of Celina, Texas; Victoria Wispell (Bill Ingraham) of Redlands, California; Val Lunday III of Denton, Texas; Christopher Lunday (Ashley) of Sachse, Texas, and eight great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on Sunday, November 13, 2016, at RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 274 Beauvoir Road, Biloxi, at 2:00 pm. Friends are invited to visit one hour prior and also following the service in the funeral home reception center. Burial will follow the reception at Southern Memorial Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a charity of one's choice.
Memories may be share at www.riemannfamily.com