Services for Betty Jean Ates Sykes of Indianola will be at 11 a.m. today at First Baptist Church in Indianola.
Mrs. Sykes, 76, died Monday, July 10, 2017 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Columbus. The family received friends from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Indianola. A second visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until the time of services today.
Burial will follow in Indianola City Cemetery. Burton Funeral Home of Indianola is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Sykes was born March 11, 1941, in Hattiesburg and was the daughter of Belton Matthew and Vader Oredus Padgett Ates. She attended Delta State University where she was a Delta Belle. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Indianola. She was a former member of the Indianola Garden Study Club, Indianola Civic League, Explorers Bible Study Group, Bunko Group, Train Group, Bridge Group and the Jaycettes.
Mrs. Sykes worked as a court reporter for Fifth Circuit Court for over 20 years prior to her retirement.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Jimmy Burt “Buddy” Sykes.
She leaves to cherish her memory two sons, Greg Sykes of Columbus and his wife, Pam, and Jimmy Sykes of Southaven and his wife, Leisha; one daughter, Debbie Williams of Grenada and her husband, Lyle; one sister, Barbara Sullivan of Mendenhall; and seven grandchildren, Matt Sykes, Hunter Sykes, Sarah Katherine Sykes, Haley Williams, Brandon Williams, Madelyn Sykes and Mary Kaitlyn Sykes.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 86, Indianola, MS 38751.
Online condolences may be shared with the family by visiting burtonfuneralhome.net.
