JESSIE TINSLEY

Jessie Durrell Tinsley, 97, of Texarkana, Ark., died Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Mr. Tinsley was born April 29, 1920, in Claiborne Parish, La. He was an electrical contractor, co-owner of AA Electric Co. and a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Beech Street First Baptist Church. Mr. Tinsley was past president of IBEW Local 301 and Arkansas Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, a Marines veteran of World War II and a combat instructor during the Korean War. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Christine Cater Tinsley. Survivors include one son and daughter-in-law, Benton "Benny" Durrell and Johnette Tinsley of Texarkana; one daughter and son-in-law, Mary Priscilla "Prissy" and Randy Hickerson of Texarkana; five grandchildren, Chuck Tinsley and Todd Tinsley of Long Beach, Miss., Chris Hickerson of Texarkana, Susan Montgomery of Carrolton, Texas, and Caroline Tinsley Porter of Wimberly, Texas; seven great-grandchildren; and a number of other relatives. Services will be 3 p.m. today at Texarkana Funeral Home, Arkansas, with the Rev. Richard Posey officiating. Burial with military honors will be in Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2 to 3 p.m. today at the funeral home. Memorials may be made made to Beech Street First Baptist Church, 601 Beech St., Texarkana, AR 71854.