Jan. 26, 1925 – July 4, 2019

NATCHEZ — Services for Andrew M. Ratcliff Sr., 94, of Natchez, who died Thursday, July 4, 2019, after a brief illness, will be 1 p.m. today at Laird Funeral Home Chapel. Graveside services, for family members only, will be at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery immediately after the funeral service under the direction of Laird Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until service time today at the funeral home.
Mr. Ratcliff was born Jan. 26, 1925, in Lucian, the son of Alex Ratcliff and Lula Mae Dickey Ratcliff.
He was a resident of Natchez for most of his life. He served in the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet in the Pacific as a gunner aboard LCI(R) 331. Ratcliff was wounded in action at Leyte Island during the invasion of the Philippines but remained aboard his ship for the duration of the war.
He was a 1950 graduate of Mississippi State University and was employed by International Paper Company for 45 years. During that time, he also became treasurer of the Old South Federal Credit Union and continued to serve on the board of directors of the credit union after retirement.
Ratcliff was inducted into the Mississippi Credit Union System Hall of Fame. He enjoyed going to church, playing golf, working in his flower beds at home, attending credit union board meetings and just being with his wife.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Joyce Cain Ratcliff; two sisters, Jimmie Dixon and Helen Allred; one brother, Alex Ratcliff Jr. and sister-in-law, Liz Ratcliff; and stepson, Davis Bunch.
Survivors include his wife, Helen; one son, Andy Ratcliff, and wife, Ellen; one grandson, Drew Ratcliff and wife, Becky; one great-granddaughter, Anna Marks Ratcliff, all of Baton Rouge; two stepsons, James Bunch and wife, Sylvia, and Dunbar Bunch and wife, Kristie; sister-in-law, Sarah Porter; one brother, F.J. Ratcliff; one nephew, Bradley Ratcliff and wife, Jan; and his grand-niece and nephew, Susannah and Sam Ratcliff, all of Brookhaven.
Pallbearers will be Drew Ratcliff, Tim McCann, Charles Thomas, Dan Williams, Jimmie Simmons and Michael Anderson.
Honorary pallbearers will be Bruce McCann, James Bunch and Dunbar Bunch.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Mississippi Alzheimer’s Society, the American Heart Association or to a charity of choice.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at lairdfh.com.