Sylvia Rebecca Speed

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Mrs. Sylvia Rebecca Speed, 84, of Osceola, died Thursday, April 18, 2014, at South Mississippi County Medical Center in Osceola.

Born in Colbert County, Ala., to the late Lucious Ricks and Hattie Ricks, she was a home manager for Dr. James Hudson and a member of the Motherboard at Bethlehem MB Church since 1947.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Emmett Speed;

Three sons, Emmett Speed Jr., L.C. Speed and Earnest Speed;

Two sisters, Vernita Softley and Moriah Garner; and

Three brothers, William Ricks, Johnny Ricks and Cooper Ricks.

She leaves behind one daughter, Willa (Albert) Veasley of Osceola;

Two sons, James (Violet) Speed of Osceola and Leonard (Brenda) Speed of Benton;

Two sisters, Earnestine Williams of Turrell and Lucille Thomas of Osceola;

One brother, Richard Ricks of Muscle Shoals, Ala.; and

Eighteen grandchildren and a host of great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Bethlehem MB Church in Osceola, with Dr. Moses Black officiating. The family will receive visitors from 10 a.m. until the service at the church. Burial will follow at Whiteside Cemetery Osceola.

Wilson Funeral Home Osceola is in charge of arrangements.