Quitman mourns Albert McFarland, service set for June 6

Albert McFarland, 83, of Quitman, died Friday, May 22, and his family has scheduled public services that will bring neighbors together at Shiloh MBC in Quitman.

Viewing will be held Saturday, June 6, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., followed by the funeral service at 11:00 a.m. Burial is planned in the church cemetery. For Quitman residents who knew McFarland, the notice gives the exact details needed to plan attendance, pay respects and support the family before the service.

That kind of public notice carries real weight in Quitman County, where the population is just 6,176 and local institutions still anchor much of daily life. In a small county, an obituary page can function as a shared bulletin board, helping church members, coworkers, relatives and longtime friends keep track of services and burial arrangements.

Berry and Gardner Funeral Home - Quitman Chapel is handling the arrangements, continuing a presence that the funeral home says has served the Quitman community since 1882. The chapel’s obituary listings have also recently carried other local names, including Vera Riley, Bertha L. Dillard, Ronnie M. Jones, Betty Hopson, Amy L. Johnson, Thomas James “Tommy” Turner, Ester “S” Davis and Lillie Ann Gaines, reflecting how often families in the area depend on one place for clear service information.

The McFarland notice also points to the close connection between Quitman churches and cemeteries. Shiloh Cemetery in Quitman is associated with Shiloh Baptist Church and sits down the road from the church itself, making the burial location immediately recognizable to many local families. That same church-and-cemetery pattern has shaped recent service notices across the county, including Vera Riley’s service at First Church of Nazarene in Quitman with burial at Little Zion Cemetery and Bertha L. Dillard’s service at First United MBC in Stonewall with burial at Musgrove Cemetery in Enterprise.

For those who plan to attend, McFarland’s service is set for Saturday, June 6, at Shiloh MBC in Quitman, with visitation beginning an hour earlier. In a county this small, the notice does more than mark a death. It sets the time and place where Quitman can gather, remember and stand with the family.