Linda Grantham Savell

Linda Carol Perry was born at Baxterville in Lamar County on August 1, 1949, one of nine children born to J.H. and Mary Holifield Perry.

She was a longtime resident of the Pine Belt area until 2006, when she moved to the Hazel community in Newton County, establishing a new marriage to her husband, Mark Savell.

She was a graduate of Beat Four High School in Wayne County, Jones Junior College at Ellisville, and the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. She obtained a Masters degree in Home Economics which lead to her teaching career that spanned 36 years, starting at Runnelstown, where she met her first husband, Larry H. Grantham. She also taught at Northeast Jones High School, where Larry served as principal. After his death in 1999, Linda would cultivate relationships with the professionals and administration in the Laurel City School District, at the R.H. Watkins Campus, until her retirement. She was a professional seamstress, using learned skills to do alterations for customers far and near, from the Pine Belt to Atlantic City where some pieces were modeled in the Miss America Pageant.

Linda loved her immediate family and extended family very much, in particular her “six grandchildren”, who brought her much joy the last 15 years. Traveling was a favorite past time for her, from the continental United States and abroad. She was a member of Hazel Baptist Church at Lake, where she served as a former Sunday School Teacher, Church Clerk, and was instrumental in Vacation Bible School as long as her health permitted.

Mrs. Savell passed away on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 under the professional care of the doctors, nurses and staff at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, at the age of 72.

She is preceded in death by her first husband, and the father of her children: Larry H. Grantham; her son-in-law: Stefan Musk; her parents: James Harvey and Mary Gertrude Holifield Perry; and her brothers: Lavon, Edward, Ralph, and Jerome Perry.

Survivors include her husband: Mark Savell of Lake; one son: Lance Grantham of the Pine Belt area; one daughter: Misty Grantham Musk of Hope, KY; three sisters: Nella Jean (James) Johnson of Lumberton, Wanda (Frank) Lee of Laurel, and Mary Jo (Doug) Tillery of Pachuta; one brother: Delton (Linda) Perry of Laurel; one sister-in-law: Frances Perry of Laurel; four step-children: Jim (Jennifer) Savell, Jennifer (Gerald) Jones, and William Savell, all of Lake; Robert (Diane) Savell of Conehatta; six step-grandchildren: Adam Savell, Madison Jones, Parker Savell, Brandon Jones, Jamey Savell and Mark Savell; and a host of nieces, nephews, former students and friends.

Memorial donations may be made to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Blood Cancer Research, 1275 York Ave. New York, NY 10065, or you may visit the website at www.development@mskcc.org.