Extracted from The Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, KS)
Thursday, June 1, 2006

James M. Puckett

SYRACUSE - James Martell Puckett, 79, died May 29, 2006, at St. Catherine's Hospital, Garden City.

He was born Nov. 12, 1926, in Kaplan, La., the son of Charles Franklin and Otis Crain Puckett. He graduated from high school in Alexandria, La., attended Louisiana College and received his bachelor's degree from Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas. A resident of Syracuse, formerly of other Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas locations, he was a retired minister in Syracuse and Garden City.

He belonged to the Lyons Club, Plains, and was a past member of the Syracuse Rotary Club.

On Aug. 7, 1970, he married Alice Ann Lindley Smith in Claremore, Okla. She survives.

Other survivors include: a daughter, Julia Morrison, Muskogee, Okla.; a stepson, William Lindley Smith, Blanchard, Okla.; a stepdaughter, Patricia Anne Stello, Ruther Glenn, Va.; 12 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Gloria Ann Holley Puckett; two sons, James Martell Puckett Jr. and Richard Warren Puckett; four brothers; and three sisters.

Memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church, Syracuse, with the Rev. Charles Stevens and the Rev. John Williams presiding.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Southern Baptist Church, Syracuse, American Diabetes Association or American Heart Association, all in care of Fellers Funeral Home, P.O. Box 1253, Syracuse, KS 67878-1253.