Martha Deweese

Services for Ms. Martha Bonita Deweese will be held on Monday, June 14, 2021, at 10:30 a.m., at 15th Avenue Baptist Church.  Visitation will be held on Sunday, June 13, 2021, from 4 - 6 p.m.. at James F. Webb Funeral Home and on Monday, at the church, from 10 a.m. until service time.  Interment will be in Magnolia Cemetery.  James F. Webb Funeral Home is honored to assist the family during this time.

Martha Bonita Deweese was born on March 10, 1949 to Murl and Catherine (Smith) Deweese of Philadelphia, MS. About age 7 the family moved to Meridian, where Bonita lived the rest of her life except for 6 months in junior high when Dad's job took them to Kosciusko and then for 2 years when she went to school at the University of Southern Mississippi.  Bonita was a life-long educator, always wanting to teach.  She even told her Navy boyfriend to get lost when he didn't want her to go to USM and get her teaching degree.  She knew God had a plan for her life and it was to make a difference in the lives of thousands of students and co-educators.  Bonita taught 10th grade English at Meridian High School for 31 years.  When Bonita retired she said, "Quite often I tell my students that I not only teach English but manners and morals as well.  MHS has truley been my 'mission field'."  Upon retiring in 2002, she continued to be involved with Meridian Public Schools by substituting and then tutoring the large influx of students relocating from Hurricane Katrina.  An avid Wildcat fan, Bonita supported all the teams and players even serving as the cheerleader sponsor in her early years.

Bonita was also active in serving at her church.  She grew up at State Blvd. Baptist Church and has been a member of Fifteenth Ave. Baptist Church for 40 years.  She loved singing in the worship choir and working with the Senior Adult Class and later with the Awana children's programs.

Though Bonita never had biological children, she loved and spoiled her nephews and nieces and the children of her many friends, always making sure all the children had books to help instill in them a love of reading.

Bonita was pre-deceased by her parents and her younger brother Scotty.  She is survived by her sister, Sheila Mitchell and her husband Todd; her nephew, Ryan Deweese and his wife Aimee and their children, Kayley, Josh, and Macie; her niece Dirce Gillin and her husband Josh and their daughter Emily; her Uncle E.J. Hayes; and many cousins and friends.

To help continue her desire to educate students, in lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her memory to Meridian Community College Foundation of which she was a proud graduate before continuing at USM.  Donations can be sent to: MCC Foundation, 910 Hwy 19 North, Meridian, MS 39307.