Calvin Crawford Heptinstall

Calvin Crawford Heptinstall, 87, of Laurel passed away on Thursday, April 4, 2019 in South Central Regional Medical Center, Laurel. Calvin attended Sharon High School, Soso High School and graduated from Jones County Agricultural High School in Ellisville in 1949. Before enlisting In the U. S. Air Force in 1950, he served in the Naval Reserve. A 1958 graduate of Officer’s Training School, Calvin served as a pilot and member of a specially selected crew from Air Force’s 33rd Air Rescue Squadron based in Naha AB, Okinaway, and was deployed in the Pacific, ready to help provide recovery assistance for Major Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. when he made his 22 orbit flight in Spacecraft Faith 7 in May 1963. He flew over one hundred combat missions in Vietnam and was awarded several medals and decorations for his military accomplishments. Following 21 years of active military service, he retired with the rank of Major in 1970, and moved his family to a farm in Sharon. He served as President of the ABC Sharon (A Better Community) and as a fund raiser, created and edited the Sharon Gazette. He has worked as a seismic permit officer, a printer and an income tax preparer. He enjoyed Bluegrass music, his coffee friends at Hardee’s, emailing and compiling short stories and jokes to share with friends. He was an active member of First Baptist Church of Sharon, the Men’s Brotherhood and taught a men’s Sunday School Class. Calvin was born on September 1, 1931, in Prim, Arkansas to Sanford S. Heptinstall and Wilma Garrison Heptinstall. He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife and mother of his children, Reta Joyce Kenney Heptinstall, brothers, W. D., Sanford, Jr., William and Harrell Heptinstall, and two sisters, Mattie Lee Bright and Merle Billingsley. He is survived by his wife Arlene Heptinstall; sisters Jean (Major) Holifield and Jannis Baird; daughters Joyce (Gordon) Watson and Donna Crooke; stepchildren Theresa Sanchez, Ernie Bush, and Tommie (Les) Rodgers; grandchildren Jonathan and Christopher Watson; Joseph, Hannah, and Lydia Crooke; step grandchildren Jennifer (Nathan) Holly, Kelly (Casey) Buchanan, Laken (Jerry) Phillips, Zachary and Elisha Rodgers; and step great-grandchildren Anna Kate and William Holly and Sadie Buchanan. The visitation and funeral service will take place at the First Baptist Church of Sharon on Monday, April 8, 2019. The visitation will be at 1 p.m. and the funeral to follow at 2 p.m., with interment in Sharon Cemetery. Memory Chapel is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the First Baptist Church of Sharon. To sign the online guest book, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.

Calvin Crawford Heptinstall

September 1, 1931 - April 4, 2019