Charlene Stokes

Visitation will be held at Coy Community Church, 55 Coy Church Road, Preston, Mississippi 39354 from 10AM to 11AM on Monday, August 15, 2022, followed by a graveside service and burial at Coy Community Cemetery next door beginning at 11AM. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Ms. Stokes’ memory to the Coy Community Cemetery Fund, c/o Tara Hutcherson, 52 Green Road, Preston, Mississippi 39354, or to the Coy Community Church, 55 Coy Church Road, Preston, Mississippi 39354. Charlene Stokes died in Meridian, Mississippi on August 11, 2022 at age 86. Ms. Stokes was born and lived her entire life on the Stokes family farm in the Coy Community, Kemper County, Mississippi. Ms. Stokes was a graduate of Prince Chapel High School, where she was an exceptional basketball player. Ms. Stokes attended East Mississippi Community (then Junior) College in Scooba, Mississippi, where she was a standout scholarship basketball player. After college, Ms. Stokes briefly played professional basketball as a member of a women’s barnstorming basketball team. Ms. Stokes was inducted into the East Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame in October 2009. After her basketball days, Ms. Stokes was an administrator and civil servant working in Federal and State government agencies. After retiring, Ms. Stokes worked for many years with accountant Max L. Loper, CPA, where she assisted clients with preparation of Federal and State income and other tax returns. Ms. Stokes devoted her remaining years to community service within and around the Coy Community. Ms. Stokes was an active and lifelong member of the Coy Community Church, where she engaged in formal and informal ministry, and was well known throughout the Coy Community, Kemper County and Neshoba County as a pillar of her community who went above and beyond the call of duty to help others she knew to be in need. Ms. Stokes for many years oversaw the operations and funding of the Coy Community Cemetery, a cause dear to her given that so many family members were buried there. Ms. Stokes was known and loved for her keen intellect, quick wit, friendly and welcoming nature, abundant energy, devout faith, and generous, loving heart. She will be dearly missed. Ms. Stokes had no husband or children and was preceded in death by: father Houston Stokes and mother Evelyn Stokes (Coy Community, Kemper County, Mississippi); sister Bobbie Stokes Young and husband Joe Young (Houston, Texas), and brother Bill Stokes (Bogalusa, Louisiana). She is survived by: sister in law Brenda Stokes (Bogalusa, Louisiana); cousin Dwight (Bobo) Bostick, wife Faye and their son Terry (Coy Community, Kemper County, Mississippi); nephew Jim Young, wife Liz and their son Daniel Henderson (Plano and Dallas, Texas); nephew Billy Stokes, wife Nance and their son Jake (Poplarville, Mississippi); niece Beth Stogner, husband Tom (Bush, Louisiana) and their children Ben and his wife Grace (Dallas, Texas), Will (Dallas, Texas), Sam (Bush, Louisiana), Jack (Bush, Louisiana) and Grace (Bush, Louisiana); nephew Bradley Stokes (Bogalusa, Louisiana) and his daughter Chloe (Perry, Georgia); and nephew Brent Stokes and his son Matthew (Bogalusa, Louisiana). She also is survived by many more relatives and loving friends within and without the Coy Community, as well as by countless individuals whose lives she touched in so many meaningful ways.