Mr Paul Nunnery

Paul Nash Nunnery, Sr., long-time Executive Director of the Baptist Children’s Village in Jackson died Wednesday at his home in Madison after a lengthy illness. He will be remembered as an advocate of the children of Mississippi and leaves a national footprint in the childcare arena. Paul was born in Washington County Mississippi on December 11, 1920. He attended school in Arcola, Ms and graduated from Mississippi College in Clinton in 1941. During World War II he served in the Army Air Corps in Italy and North Africa. After his discharge from the service, he attended the University of Wisconsin School of Law for two years before transferring to the University of Mississippi, where he earned his law degree in 1948 and began the private practice of law in Hollandale. In May of 1946 he married Dorothy Evelyn Ingram of Cleveland and they were married 63 years and made their home in Hollandale. Paul was elected to the Board of Directors at what was then the Baptist Orphanage and was very active in that capacity for several years. Upon the retirement of his predecessor, W. G. Mize in 1960, Paul was asked to assume responsibility for the institution and he accepted, intending to stay at most two years, as he said often, “until someone suitable could be found.� He stayed for over thirty years, revolutionizing institutional childcare in Mississippi. One of his first acts was to change the orphanage name to “Mississippi Baptist Children’s Village� and shortly embarked upon the enormous undertaking of relocating the “Village� campus from Jackson to Clinton. During his administration, Paul was influential in the formulation of childcare legislation at the federal level as President of the National Association of Homes for Children and under his guidance “The Village� was among the first in the country to gain accreditation in its field through this organization. After his retirement, he remained active as in-house legal counsel to “The Village�. Paul was a Rotarian in Washington County and Jackson for many years. He was a life member of the Mississippi State Bar Association and a long-time member and Sunday School teacher at Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton. Preceding him in death were his beloved Dorothy in January, 2010; his parents, Isaac D. Sr. and Pearl Nash Nunnery; brother Ike Jr. and sister Edna Nunnery Spalding and his youngest child, India Ruth Nunnery. Survivors include daughters, Bess J. Perry (Tom) of Dublin, Ga; Hilda H. Boteler (Bob) and Doris F. Macsherry, Jackson; Barbara N. Nettles of Madison and Johns Creek, Ga., and son, Paul Nash Nunnery, Jr. of Oxford; grandchildren, Catherine Perry Engelbracht (Tim) and children Abby, Erin and Ben of McDonnough, Ga., Matt (Shannon) Perry and children Jessica and Matthew of Dublin, Ga.; Ginger Powell (Matt) and children Madeline, Ella and Claire of Boone, N.C.; Kirby Boteler of Jackson, Paul Nettles of Washington, D.C. and Seth Nettles of Madison. Visitation will be Thursday, January 20th at Lakewood Funeral Home from 4-7 p.m. with services Friday at 10 a.m. Interment will be at 1 p.m. at the municipal cemetery in Hollandale. Memorials may be made to the Baptist Children’s Village, P. O. Box 27, Clinton, MS 39060.