Melvin Ray Searcy

Visitation is 5:00-7:00pm Saturday, April 14, 2012 at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl. Funeral services are 2:00pm Sunday, April 15, 2012 in the funeral home chapel with interment in Floral Hills Memory Gardens.

Mr. Searcy was born January 4, 1941 in Baskin, LA, a son of Dolly Neal Searcy and the late K.T. Searcy.

A member of Park Place Baptist Church, he retired from the Teamsters Local 891 where he had been a truck driver for 30 years. His life was filled with love and joy due to his wonderful family and friends.

For more than 18 years, his family had a camper in the Goshen Springs community and enjoyed camping and fishing with their family and friends. He particularly enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, taking them on the pontoon boat, swimming, fishing and alligator hunting adventures. He also enjoyed many fishing and hunting trips to West Texas with his sons, grandsons and friends.

Always athletic, Mr. Searcy coached girls’ softball and basketball, and also played and coached basketball for the McLaurin Heights Baptist Church and Park Place Baptist Church teams. He and his wife, Sunny, were also members of the Monday night bowling league at Fannin Lanes.

Mr. Searcy had a true love for music. He and Sunny, along with Betty Luke, sang gospel and country music for many events in the community for several years.

Known for his generous heart for service to others, he and his friends often held benefit fish fry events for local needs.

Survivors include his wife Sunshine “Sunny” Searcy of Pearl; mother, Dolly Searcy of Archibald, LA; sons, Keith Searcy (Pam) of Midlothian, TX and Jeff Searcy (Sheila) of Carthage; daughters, Julie Robbins (Bryan) of Brandon and Kaye Whitehead of Humble, TX; 13 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; brother, J.L. Searcy (Wanda) of Baton Rouge, LA; and sisters, Liz Allen (Gordan) of Rayville, LA and Renea Whitehorn (Ryland) of Dallas, TX.

He was preceded in death by his father, K.T. Searcy.

Memorials may be made to Park Place Baptist Church or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.