Sarah Jeanne Charbonneau Holifield

Sarah Jeanne Charbonneau Holifield December 25, 1930 – December 19, 2017 Sarah Jeanne Charbonneau Holifield passed away on December 19, 2017 at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, MS. She was born in Hattiesburg on Christmas Day, 1930, the second child of Charles Llewellyn and Elise Cook Charbonneau. Her family was living in Jackson, MS, but had returned to Hattiesburg for Christmas and her birth. The Great Depression was raging at that time and with times hard and money scarce, they subsequently returned to live with her grandmother and other extended family members in the family home on Bay Street. She attended Walthall Grammar School and nearby Court Street Methodist Church to which, as founding members, all belonged. She was blessed with both musical talent and the gift of a beautiful voice, an inheritance from her mother’s family, which she employed in the Church and at songfests, concerts and plays at her schools. She attended Hattiesburg High School from which she graduated in 1947. After High School, she matriculated for two years at Belhaven College in Jackson, MS and returned to Hattiesburg to gain her BS in Music with emphasis on voice. During her junior year, she met and then married Dr. Robert H. Holifield of Laurel, MS. She continued to commute to the then Mississippi Southern College, from which she graduated in 1950. During her life in Laurel, MS, she was very involved in church functions at the First Baptist Church of Laurel. Both she and Dr. “Bob” were active leaders for over thirty years of the Honduras Baptist Dental Mission, which provides Medical as well as Dental Health services and is committed to spreading the Word of God. Along with her husband, she spent a year abroad with the Southern Baptist Association mission to The Gambia, West Africa. She was preceded in death by her husband of sixty plus years, Dr. Robert H Holifield and one son, Scott Allen Holifield, who died in infancy. She is survived by three sons, Dr. Robert Bradley Holifield (Cena) of Petal, MS, Charles Clayton Holifield of Laurel, MS, Mark Wyatt Holifield(Laura) of Magnolia, TX, and four grandchildren, Elise Holifield Blackledge (Bryan), Erin Holifield Howayeck (Paul), Kristin Holifield, and Hannah Holifield. Visitation will be held on Friday, December 22, 9:00 AM with the funeral service at 11:00 AM at First Baptist Church in Laurel. Interment will be at Hickory Grove Cemetery in Laurel. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to one of Mrs. Holifield’s favorite charities; the Honduras Baptist Medical Mission, First Baptist Church Laurel, or Dynamic Dyslexia Design; The 3-D School Petal. Pallbearers will be Paul Howayeck, Jim Windham, Cliff Windham, Clay Charbonneau, William Wittman, and Bryan Blackledge. To sign the online guest book, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.

Sarah Jeanne Charbonneau Holifield

December 25, 1930 - December 19, 2017