DOTHAN. . .Katrine Carpenter Williams, a resident of Dothan, passed away Sunday morning, July 19, 2026. She was 78.
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 P.M. Thursday, July 23, 2026, in the Cowarts Baptist Church with Pastor Jonathan Sorensen officiating. The family will receive friends from 12:30 to 1:30 P.M. Thursday in the church sanctuary Burial will follow in the Columbia City Cemetery. Holman-Headland Mortuary & Cremations is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Cowarts Baptist Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 10, Cowarts, AL 36321 or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959 or Friends of Columbia, P.O. Box 77, Columbia, AL 36319.
Mrs. Williams was born in Henry County and raised in Columbia. She was a graduate of Houston County High School in Columbia and received a Degree as a Registered Nurse from Troy State University-Montgomery. She was retired from Southeast Alabama Medical Center as a Registered Nurse and in earlier years, she worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Mrs. Williams was a member of Cowarts Baptist Church. She was an active member of the Cowarts Senior Center and the B-Team Angels, a ladie’s singing group. Mrs. Williams was preceded in death by her father, Gillam Davie Carpenter, her mother, Willie Pearl Scott Carpenter, her husband, Rodney Lewis Williams, two brothers, Junior Carpenter and Carlton Carpenter, and a sister-in-law, Kathy Carpenter.
Surviving relatives include a sister, Paula Brooks (Gerald), Havana, FL; a brother, Terry Carpenter, Ozark; nephews, who she helped to raise, Bruce Carpenter (Amanda) and Bobby Carpenter (Keila), and other nieces and nephews; two step-daughters, Lynne Coker (Craig), and Renee’ Hankins (Carl); sisters-in-law, Freddie Carpenter and Shirley Williams.
Serving as active pallbearers will be Bryce Carpenter, Travis Carpenter, Brody Goodman, Trey Dollar, Michael Sermino and Kyle Brooks.
HOLMAN-HEADLAND MORTUARY & CREMATIONS IS IN CHARGE OF ARRANGEMENTS. Phone 334-693-3371. You may sign a guest register at www.holmanmortuaries.com. This establishment does not own a crematory.
OZARK…John Durwood Stroh, 79, a resident of both Ozark, Alabama and Bowdon, North Carolina, passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Ozark.
John was born on July 23, 1946, in Bowdon, North Dakota. He graduated from Bowdon High School with the Class of 1964 and was proud of his small-town roots. In 1966, John was drafted into the United States Army and served his country during the Vietnam War until 1968. During his military service, he was wounded in combat and was awarded the Purple Heart for his courage and sacrifice.
Following his honorable discharge, John moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he worked a variety of jobs as he built his life. Later, his entrepreneurial spirit led him to purchase a Matco Tools distributorship in Minnesota, where he enjoyed serving his customers and building lasting relationships. He also owned and operated his own trucking company, Stroh Trucking.
John found great joy in riding his motorcycle, spending time on the open road, and visiting with friends. He appreciated life’s simple pleasures and valued the friendships he made throughout the years. He enjoyed being Santa Clause to his great-nephews.
John was preceded in death by his parents, Heinrich “Hank” and Leola Werner Stroh; his sisters, Iris Neumiller and Pamela Frueh; his brother, Jerome Stroh, and two nephews.
He is survived by his nephews, Glen Neumiller, Hugh Neumiller, both of South Dakota Darin Frueh and his son Sheldon, both of North Dakota.
In addition to his nephews and other relatives, his extended family includes, Millie Sanders Drum, Dr. Harry Robinson and his wife Patricia Sanders Robinson, all of Ozark, Natasha Hollenbeck, Wisconsin, Larissa Drum, Minnesota, Aiden Magel, Minnesota, Ava and Alexis Hollenbeck, both of Wisconsin, Nolan and Eleanor Drum Olson, James Swanson, Richard Swanson, James Swanson Jr. (Karen), Gabriel Swanson (Maddie), Tyler Swanson (Jess), and Larry Thurston, all of Minnesota.
John will be remembered for his service to his country, his resilience in the face of life’s challenges, his independent spirit, and the kindness he shared with those who knew him.
You may sign a guest register at www.fuquabankston.com
Jane L. Dalton, born January 22, 1950, in Covina, California, passed away on July 18, 2026, in Dothan, Alabama, and she will be remembered with deep love and gratitude by all who knew her.
She was born and raised in Orange County, CA where she spent her early years surrounded by family and the values that would guide her throughout her life. After graduating from high school, she moved to Indiana to attend college, where she continued to grow in knowledge, character, and faith. Following her college years, she made her way to Florida, where life opened a new and meaningful chapter. It was there in Pensacola that she met Robert Dalton, the love of her life, and the two were married in a union that was marked by devotion, partnership, and enduring affection.
Jane dedicated much of her professional life to teaching and to the education of young people. She taught fifth grade at Pensacola Christian Academy, where she was known for her patience, her warmth, and her steady encouragement of her students. She took great pride in helping children learn and grow, and she approached her work with a sense of purpose and care. In addition to her classroom teaching, she also helped publish the Abeka fifth grade curriculum, contributing her time and talents to a work that reached many students and families. Her commitment to education reflected the same thoughtfulness and diligence that she brought to every part of her life.
Throughout her marriage, Jane and Robert moved many times, following the path of his work and building a life together wherever they went. She embraced each new place with grace and adaptability, making a home wherever they landed and ensuring that family remained at the center of all she did. Her steady presence gave comfort and strength to those around her, and her ability to create warmth and order in changing circumstances was one of her many gifts.
Family was the heart of Jane’s life. She loved planning family events and bringing people together for special occasions, and she especially enjoyed family cooking gatherings that filled the home with laughter, conversation, and the comfort of shared meals. She found joy in the simple but meaningful traditions that bound generations together. She also loved the Smoky Mountains, a place that held beauty and peace for her and reflected her appreciation for nature, quiet moments, and cherished memories.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Robert E. Dalton, and by her brother, Darrell Moulton.
She is survived by her daughters, Heather Dalton, Becky Gibney (James), Rachel Fisher (Tom), and Erin Blitzer (Geoff). She is also survived by her grandchildren, Savannah Gibney, Sabrina Gibney, Ava Fisher, Jack Fisher, Ty Fisher, Vivian Fisher, and Calhan Blitzer, all of whom brought her great pride and joy. She leaves behind her sisters, Elaine Maugans (Harry), and Susan Miller (Ed), who shared in her life and treasured her deeply.
Jane’s life was one of devotion, kindness, and quiet strength. She touched the lives of her family, her students, her friends, and many others through her generosity of spirit and her steadfast love. Her legacy will live on in the values she modeled, the family she nurtured, and the many lives she influenced through her care and example. Though she will be greatly missed, her memory will remain a blessing to all who were fortunate enough to know her.
A celebration of Jane’s life will be held at 2:00pm Saturday, August 1, 2026 at Sunset Funeral Home with Pastor Doug MacCormack officiating. She will be laid to rest in Sunset Memorial Park. The family will receive friends one hour prior to service time.
HEADLAND. . .Cathy Denise Lovvorn Swett, a resident of Headland, passed away early Thursday morning, June 18, 2026, in a Dothan hospital. She was 60.
Memorial services will be held at 10:30 A. M. Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in the Worship Center of the First Baptist Church of Headland with Dr. Cecil M. Sanders, Jr. officiating. A reception will follow the memorial service in the Ministry Center of the church. Holman-Headland Mortuary & /Cremations is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 7023, Merrifield, VA 22116-7023.
Cathy Swett was born at Travis Air Force Base in California and was raised in Valdosta, Georgia, daughter of the late George Joseph Lovvorn and Frankie Mae Dunn Lovvorn. She was a graduate of Lowndes County High School in Valdosta. Cathy received a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Valdosta State College and a Master’s Degree in Reading from Concordia University. She retired from the Dothan City School System at Kelly Springs School. In earlier years, Cathy taught at Pine Grove Elementary in Valdosta, DOD School System in Germany, Estrella Mountain Elementary School in Goodyear, Arizona, and A. M. Windham Elementary School in Daleville, AL.
Surviving relatives include her husband, Lowry Lee Swett, Jr.; a sister, Donna Lovvorn Brown Wilson (Eddie), Huntsville, AL.
HOLMAN-HEADLAND MORTUARY & CREMATIONS IS IN CHARGE OF ARRANGEMENTS. Phone 334-693-3371. You may sign a guest register at www.holmanmortuaries.com. This establishment does not own a crematory.
GRIMES…Jimmy Randell Peters passed away peacefully on Thursday, July 16, 2026, at the home he shared with his wife, Virginia, in Grimes, Alabama, following an extended illness.
Graveside services will be held 10:00 A.M. Monday, July 27, 2026 at Taylor Assembly of God Cemetery with his niece Charlotte Kirkpatrick speaking.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Taylor Assembly of God Cemetery Fund, c/o Mary Paulk, 131 Rice Rd, Taylor, AL 36301.
One of twelve children, Jimmy grew up knowing that if the family was going to make it, everyone had to do their part. At just thirteen years old, he rode his bicycle from Wicksburg to Dobb BBQ in Dothan to earn money to help his mother provide for their family. Eventually, he left school, setting aside his own education so he could help put food on the table.
It was simply what needed to be done.
He loved his mother deeply, and there was little he wouldn’t have done for her. Losing her in 1985 was another heartbreak in a life that would know more than most.
In 1977, tragedy forever changed Jimmy’s life. His wife, Brenda, and their young daughter, Christine, were taken from him in an unimaginable act of violence. Overnight, Jimmy became something almost unheard of in those days—a single father raising two toddlers, Eddie and Nina.
There were no instruction manuals. No support groups. Just two little children who still needed their dad.
So Jimmy went to work.
As an employee of White’s Plumbing, he spent his days building houses while dreaming of a home for his own children. While working on one particular house in Headland, Alabama, most laughed when Jimmy declared, “That’s going to be the house I buy for me and the kids.”
But Jimmy had a quiet determination that never needed anyone else’s approval.
He bought that house.
For years, 110 Terrace Drive became far more than bricks and mortar.
It became home.
His daughter lovingly called it “the orphanage,” because anyone who needed a place to stay—a night, a week, or however long life required—was always welcome there. Jimmy never seemed to have much to spare, yet somehow there was always room for one more.
If you wanted to understand Jimmy, you only needed to understand that house.
He believed that if someone needed help, and you were able to help, then you did.
He worked hard.
He sacrificed quietly.
And he made sure the people he loved were taken care of.
Life eventually brought love into Jimmy’s life again. In the early 1980s, he married Virginia, who came with a young son, Ladon. Jimmy never saw him as anything less than his own. Years later, that chapter came to an end, and Jimmy married Misty, with whom he welcomed his youngest son, Curtis. Although that marriage also ended, life has a way of coming full circle. In 2009, Jimmy and Virginia found their way back to one another.
True to the man he had always been, Jimmy stepped into the role of caregiver once again. After a workplace accident left Ladon paralyzed, Jimmy faithfully cared for the son he considered his own until his own declining health no longer allowed him to do so.
In 1996, Jimmy received another title that quickly became one of his favorites: Pepa Jimmy. When Bailey was born, a whole new chapter of his life began. Before long, Meghan, Garrett, Tucker, Madison, and Corilyn Rose joined the family, and each found their own special place in his heart. Becoming a grandfather gave Jimmy another generation to love, spoil, tease, and cheer on, and there was no mistaking the pride he carried whenever he talked about his grandkids.
Jimmy wasn’t a perfect man. No one who truly knew him would claim he was.
Like many families, theirs experienced seasons of closeness and seasons of distance. Time changed relationships, but it never erased the decades of sacrifice, devotion, and love that shaped the lives of his children.
That was Jimmy.
He wasn’t always good with words.
He was better with actions.
When Jimmy wasn’t working, there was a good chance he could be found doing one of three things: fishing, riding his motorcycle, or sitting beside a cooler full of Bud Light.
It’s impossible to know how many miles that little red pickup truck traveled with a boat in tow, chasing fish across Lake Eufaula. The loud exhaust probably announced his arrival long before he reached the water, yet somehow the fish never seemed to mind.
Some of his family’s favorite memories were made there—camping, fishing, laughing, and simply being together.
For Eddie, those fishing trips became the language he and his dad spoke best. In middle school, Jimmy once checked him out of school just to spend the day on the water. That was the day Eddie caught his first big bass. As the years passed, the stories—and the fish—grew bigger until they became the legendary ten-pound bass every fisherman dreams about.
Thanksgiving was probably Jimmy’s favorite holiday. He loved gathering at his sister Theresa’s house, where the family was loud, the food was plentiful, and there was almost certainly a homemade peanut butter cake waiting for him. Those meals became some of life’s sweetest gifts.
Jimmy’s life wasn’t easy. It was marked by more loss than most of us could imagine.
But yesterday, that life was rewarded when he heard the words every faithful servant longs to hear:
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
And in that moment, a nearly fifty-year wait finally came to an end. Jimmy wrapped his arms around Christine, the daughter he had missed every single day.
Jimmy was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Brenda; his precious daughter, Christine; his mother, Imogene Peters; his brothers, Gene and Johnny Robert; and his sisters, Carolyn, Molly, and Theresa.
He is survived by his wife, Virginia; his sons, Eddie, Curtis, and Ladon; his daughter, Nina; his six cherished grandchildren, Bailey, Meghan, Garrett, Tucker, Madison, and Corilyn; his sisters, Marilyn, Sharon, and Trina; his brothers, Johnny Harold, Ronnie, and Jeffrey; along with many nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends whose lives were made better simply because Jimmy was part of them.
His story wasn’t perfect.
But it was honest.
It was resilient.
It was generous.
Above all else, it was a life spent showing up, working hard, opening his home, and carrying the burdens of the people he loved.
If you wanted to understand Jimmy, you only needed to understand that house a dad made a home.
GRACEVILLE, FL… Lena Mae Miller, a resident of Graceville, Florida, passed away late Sunday night, July 5, 2026, at Dothan hospital. She was 72.
Celebration of Life Services will be held 2:00 P.M. Saturday, July 25, 2026 at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, 1117 Highway 171 Graceville, Florida.
Ms. Miller was born in Florida to the late Lee Andrew Bell and Melia Patterson Bell. She was a proud graduate of Poplar Springs High School and carried the values of hard work and dedication throughout her life.
For many years, she was employed by Sony Corporation in Dothan, Alabama, where she worked on the assembly line manufacturing videotapes. She was a member of Northside Assembly of God Church in Bonifay, Florida, where she found strength in her faith and fellowship with her church family.
Ms. Miller found joy in life’s simple pleasures. She loved playing bingo and treasured the friendships it brought. She also enjoyed spending time outdoors, especially camping and fishing, where she found peace and happiness surrounded by nature. She will be remembered for her kind spirit, hardworking nature, and the many cherished memories she created with her family and friends.
In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her sister, Nancy Garner; and her brother, Andrew Bell.
Surviving relatives include her children, Michelle Miller, Thomas Bell and Denice Miller; her grandchildren, Lee Miller, John Simmons “Mikie”, Eli James Bell, Emily Elaine Bell, Morgan Dial, Katlin Ingram (Jacob), and Dustin Bohannon; her great grandchildren, Hadley Johnson, Raelynn Bohannon, Bennett Bohannon, Paisley Blankenship, and Sawyer Blankenship; her sister, Bernice Golden; her brothers, Charlie Bell (Judy), Edwin Bell (Maxine), Benny Bell (Brenda), George Bell, and Jackie Bell; and several other loving family members and friends.
