Ouida Miller Callahan

Ouida Pauline Miller Callahan, 98, passed away on March 2, 2024, at Brandon Court Nursing Home in Brandon, MS. Born in Lucedale, MS, she lived her latter decades in Pearl, MS, where she was a longtime member of Living Hope Ministries Church. She is preceded in death by her parents, Vernon Miller and Eva Luena Bryan Miller; her brother Paul Miller and sister Mariel Miller Osborne; her husband George Callahan, Sr.; two children, George Callahan, Jr., and Anneva Callahan Jordan; and 2 grandchildren: John Callahan and Joe Wilkins. She is survived by four children: Stephanie Callahan Wilkins Pippinger, Karen Callahan Slovak, Dodge Callahan, Harry Callahan, and upwards of fifty grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
 
 Ouida was a wife and homemaker, passionate about raising her six children with faith in the Lord and endowing them with a lifetime of memorized scripture whether they wanted it or not. After her husband passed away while Ouida was still in her forties, she worked as a nanny for children and a caregiver for the elderly while providing for her younger children who still lived at home, and later caring for her own elderly parents. A lover of gardening and nature, she never failed to draw our attention to God’s handiwork in a flower or in a storm. She remained active and passionate in her church until failing health began to keep her homebound in her early nineties, and even as her mobility declined, she remained faithful in prayer.
 
 As dementia made Ouida begin to forget loved ones, she clung tight to the Lord, calling on Him day and night (as her nighttime caregivers can attest). She was unafraid to face either dementia or death; aware that her memory was failing, and later, aware that her body was shutting down, she called on the Lord to be her strength. We will never forget her courage when given the difficult news that she would be moving from her home of 35 years into a nursing facility: she chose to express gratitude to her caregivers, and to focus on the Lord’s plan and work set before her. She moved into Brandon Court prepared to ask everyone she met if they knew Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Less than four weeks later, she entered His presence herself.

Funeral service will be held at Ott & Lee Funeral Home in Brandon on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 1:00 pm with visitation beginning one hour prior. The internment will be private.