March 5, 1984 – May 2, 2018

 

NATCHEZ — Services for Derek Jemayel Jarvis Sr., 34, who died Wednesday, May 2, 2018, at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, will be 1 p.m. Thursday at Christian Hope Baptist Church, 301 LaSalle St., in Natchez, with the Rev. Kirk Keller officiating.      

Burial will follow at Sunset View Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Curtis Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Shiloh Baptist Church, 12 Perrault St., with a memorial service to follow at 7:30 p.m. at Mary Jean Irving Memorial Gym at Natchez High School.

Visitation will continue Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the church.

Mr. Jarvis was born March 5, 1984, in Natchez, the son of Johnell and Brenda Dixon Jarvis of Natchez.

He was a proud 2002 graduate of Natchez High School, where he was recognized nationally as a standout basketball and football player. Derek continued to pursue his love of sports while attending Copiah-Lincoln Community College and Tougaloo College. In 2017, Derek graduated with a bachelor of science degree in healthcare administration from William Carey University in Hattiesburg with the great support of his family and friends in attendance.

Derek had a passion for children and sports and was able to fulfill his purpose through his various careers. Derek served as a youth counselor at the Hattiesburg YMCA and as a correctional counselor at the Forrest County Correctional Detention Center. He was most known in the Hattiesburg community as “Coach Red” after serving as an assistant basketball and football coach throughout the community at North Forrest High School, Sacred Heart Catholic School, Oak Grove High School and his beloved Hattiesburg High School.

Derek was deeply admired in the Forrest County community, which was shown by the students of Hattiesburg High School, who painted the town “red” by wearing red shirts in honor of his memory and a moment of silence during their lunch period. His family was honored by the local recreational league’s baseball team, where Derek introduced the love of baseball to his sons, with a special tribute and a candle light vigil by the high school’s basketball team at the family’s home.

Derek was Baptist and attended Grace Temple Baptist Church in Hattiesburg. He was baptized at the age of five at Shiloh Baptist Church in Natchez.

He participated in the local basketball recreational league and was a member of a regional basketball organization. He loved and was loved by a number of people. He never met a stranger. To know him was to love him. Many called him a “gentle giant” with an even bigger heart. His favorite saying was
F.O.E.” — which meant, “Family Over Everything.”

Derek was preceded in death by his grandparents, Monroe and Ida Dixon and Olivia Jarvis; and one brother, Johnell Cain.

Survivors include his wife, Sadora Jarvis; two sons, Derek J. Jarvis Jr. and Dylan Jarvis; his parents; two sisters, Cathy Sanders and husband, Nicholas, and Ashley Kelly and husband, Jerome; grandparents, Severe Gaines and wife, Mary; two godsisters, Najee Herrington and Debra Whitley; a special aunt and cousin who helped nurture and develop his love of sports, Ethel Dixon and Rhonda Dixon Conner; and a number of aunts, uncles, cousins, other relatives and friends.

Honorary pallbearers will be Arthur Seals, Gregory Dixon, Albert Slack, Elva Blackwell, Ivan Dixon, Leroy Carter Jr., Alvin Griffin Jr. and Brian Williams.