Loretta Stampley DeFoe

1932 - 2020

Loretta Stampley DeFoe

Ridgeland - Loretta "Honee" Stampley DeFoe went home to be with the Lord on July 26, 2020 at Beau Ridge Memory Care in Ridgeland. She was 87.

Born in Port Gibson on December 23, 1932 at her childhood home, High Hill Plantation, she was the daughter of the late Walter and Eloise Walton Stampley.

Honee's spunky attitude, her firm but fair expression of tough love, and her zest for life has forever shaped her family. One never had to question where she stood as there was no room for gray in her life, right was right and wrong was wrong. While raising her family, Honee worked tirelessly in the oil industry as a single parent, never complaining but always pushing her children toward a college degree. Education was paramount! Later, while working as an Administration Assistant to the President of Millsaps College, she pursued for herself a baccalaureate degree in English, graduating with honors. Her greatest joys were love of family and being able to watch her children and grandchildren graduate college.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Alan Ward Graning; her brother, Walter James Stampley, Jr.; and sisters, Eloise Stampley Ramsey and Nellie Stampley Parker.

She is survived by her daughter, Loretta DeFoe West (Danny, deceased); son, Jim DeFoe (Laurie); grandchildren: Jessica West Belue (Bryan), DeFoe Regan West (Alex), Courtney DeFoe Jones (Demarre), Kristen DeFoe Butler (Jet), Kelli DeFoe,; great grandchildren: Charlie & Molly Jones, Jetta Marie & Knox Butler, and Dawson & Addison Belue; and a host of other relatives.

A private family memorial service was held at 1:00 pm on Friday, July 31, 2020, at Sebrell Funeral Home in Ridgeland.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Christ United Methodist Church, 6000 Old Canton Rd., Jackson, MS 39211 or to The MIND Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 N State St., Jackson, MS 39216.