Lois Coghlan Boyd

Funeral services for Lois Coghlan Boyd, 86, will be at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 8, 2009, at St. James' Episcopal Church in Greenville, Mississippi, of which church she was a communicant. Sunset burial will immediately follow at Greenville Cemetery. Boone-Wells Funeral Home of Greenville is in charge of the arrangements.
She transitioned from her home on Saturday, September 5, 2009.
"Miss Lois", as she was affectionately known, was born on October 13, 1922 in Lincoln County, Mississippi, to June and Eunice Beck Coghlan. She attended boarding school at St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa, Mississippi for a number of years, and enjoyed telling numerous, humorous "horror stories" of her experiences there as a student, including that of the legend of the Chatawa Monster, who lived in the surrounding piney woods to keep the students of St. Mary from running away. Having not attended her senior year of high school at St. Mary by the decision of the nuns, much to the consternation of her parents and with great delight to Miss Lois, she was thrilled to graduate along with life-long friends from Ruth High School, Ruth, Mississippi in 1941. She attended Whitworth College in Brookhaven, Mississippi.
Miss Lois was a retired bed and breakfast innkeeper, being the proprietor of the Victorian Inn, Greenville's first bed and breakfast inn, which she described as her true calling in life. Well known for her gracious Southern hospitality, she entertained guests from 41 states and 17 countries at her inn. She was a founding and charter member of the Mississippi Association of Professional Innkeepers, and offered advice and encouragement to those who planned to enter the industry and continued as a consultant well into her retirement.
Miss Lois was preceded in death by her daughter, Judy Boyd Donald, who died in an automobile accident on August 10, 1990. She was also preceded in death by her parents; her grandson, Donnie Paul Boyd; her brothers, June Coghlan, Jr., Tom Coghlan and Bobby Coghlan; and her sister, Janet Coghlan.
She is survived by her son, Michael Boyd of Greenville, with whom she lived. She is also survived by her special helper, caregiver, and close faithful friend, Henry James Rayford. Other survivors include sons, Tim Boyd of Las Vegas, Nevada, Page Boyd of Jackson, Mississippi and James Boyd, Jr. of Gulf Shores, Alabama; her daughter-in-law, Peggy Boyd Johnson of Portland, Arkansas; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; her brothers, Carl Coghlan, of Jupiter, Florida, George Coghlan of Brookhaven, Mississippi and Charles Coghlan of Anderson, South Carolina; her sisters, Fay C. Scandrett of St. Louis, Missouri and Peggy C. King of Santa Rosa, California; and her sister-in-law, Martha Ross Coghlan of Pelahatchie, Mississippi. She is also survived by two very special and dear friends whom she referred to as her "adopted children," James Stuart White of Hurley, Mississippi and Selene Dunn Maddox of Tupelo, Mississippi.
Her devoted, much loved and appreciated caregivers in her last days were Vernita Williams, Delores Jackson and Jackie Price. Delta Regional Medical Center Hospice, Cindi Jarrett, Sandy Solomon, Trudy Giesbrechte, Diana Goza and Lee Ann Shoffner provided excellent nursing care and compassion during Miss Lois' final illness.
Friends will be received at her home at 1139 Gamwyn Park Drive, Greenville, Mississippi on Monday, September 7, 2009, from 6 to 9 p.m., and on the day of the funeral from noon until 4:00 p.m.
Expressions of sympathy in her memory can be sent to St. James' Episcopal Church, 1026 South Washington Avenue, Greenville, Mississippi or to the Delta Regional Medical Center Hospice, 1400 East Union Street, Greenville, Mississippi.