I was told the Myers had quite a testimony, which was correct. William Bruce Myers, originally of Newton, Mississippi, retired from the Mississippi Army National Guard (MSANG) after twenty years of service as a 94T Avenger Missile System repairman, also having worked on the oil field 18½ years until the oilfield crashed. He now works in supervision for Edwards Electric in Philadelphia. He and his high school sweetheart, Carri, have been married 27 years, rearing four daughters.
William was born August 19, 1976, the only child of Melinda Sumrall Myers (now Sullivan) and Prentiss Edgar Myers. He attended elementary school at Newton, but graduated high school at Sylva Bay Academy in 1994, after entering the MSANG. All through high school, he worked for Williams Brothers Dairy in Hickory.
William was raised in church, with his father, grandfather, uncles, all being deacons. He was eight, at Liberty Baptist Church of Newton. At a revival, with the evangelist preaching, he was seated with his parents. He reported, “I can remember…there were candles down front. One of them went out and came back on. I felt that Spirit come over me. I talked to the pastor, Bro. Costelow, at the end, walked the aisle Sunday, then was baptized.”
Carri Posey Myers, of Lawrence/Lake, was born September 8, 1977, to Virginia Robinson Posey (now Robinson), and Steve Posey. She has one brother Stephen Posey. Carri and William met in 1993 and were married November 4, 1995, when Carri was a senior at Newton City High School. After graduation in 1996, Carri worked at La-Z-Boy about four years, until she came home to care for the girls. Madalynn Brooke was born August 24, 1996; Mallory Rose was born April 30, 1998; Madison Grace came August 10, 2000; and Maegan Claire on July 3, 2002.
Carri told me of her salvation experience. When she was 12, at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Lawrence, she said, “I made the decision to accept Christ as Saviour…He had been convicting me, and I’d had this dream about the end of the world and it scared me. I went up front to make my profession of faith and was baptized soon after.”
In 2002, William began working in the oil field, when Carri entered East Central Community College. The girls were six years old, four, two, and five weeks. William would be gone a month, then home a month, at which time he gave all his time to the girls. Raising their four girls meant gymnastics, cheerleading, soccer, softball, karate, FFA, 4H shooting sports and power lifting. Madalynn holds a national FFA degree, Mallory was an All-American cheerleader, and Grace holds a state FFA degree. Claire was a double state champion in karate and holds five world records with the American Powerlifting Association.
Carri earned her R.N degree at ECCC in 2005. She worked at various hospitals before entering the position at Central Mississippi Residential Center that changed her direction in nursing. She worked there for five years and reported, “I loved it. This is what God wants me to do. He just gave me a heart for it.” In 2014, Carri went back to school for her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern Mississippi and then began the graduate program at University of Mississippi Medical Center in August 2015. She graduated with a Master’s degree in nursing in 2017, becoming a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. She has been at Precise Clinical Neuroscience Specialists in Flowood for five years and practices Psychiatric Medication Management.
William told me, “Looking back, I could see God’s hand.” In 2014-15, while working offshore in Trinidad, he recalled, “I can remember sitting there praying, ‘Just let me keep my job so I can get her through school. In 2016, only three of us kept our jobs. I kept it till 2018, when Carri had graduated and gotten established. I came home, then went to ECCC the same day Grace did.” He earned his Associates Degree in Applied Science then entered USM to major in Construction Management.
At the beginning of his second semester, their baby girl Claire was tragically killed in a car accident on January 20, 2010. Not able to focus, he withdrew from school. William commented, “God took care of it—USM didn’t even charge me for that semester.” After a few months, a friend told him to seek a job at Edwards Electric. Being overqualified for an available position, the president of the company asked him to start up the prefabrication shop he had been wanting to get going. He now has seven employees, with a director over him. Both William and Carri stated “God sent him that job.”
Madalynn graduated Newton County High School in 2014, attended ECCC, then finished Mississippi State University with a Bachelor’s in Animal and Dairy Science. Having joined the Army in 2021, Madalynn is now a Combat Engineer, stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana. She also served a year in South Korea.
Mallory, a NCHS grad of 2016, earned her B.S. in Radiological Sciences from UMMC then married John Wesley Spears, August 22, 2020. He is in Security Forces in the U.S. Air Force in Wichita, Kansas, but will be transferred to Keesler this July. The Myers are excited to see them move closer, as they have grandson William Easton Spears, born March 4, 2022, and granddaughter Carianne Claire Spears, born February 25, 2023.
Grace graduated NCHS in 2018. All four of the girls worked at Zack Garvin’s, and Carri told me, “By the time Grace was 17, she was manager.” Grace went to ECCC, then Hinds Junior College before transferring to USM. After taking a year off, she will graduate in May from Mississippi State with her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education May 2024. She is engaged to marry Nickolas McLemore April 13, 2024.
Claire graduated from NCHS in 2020. The next year, she was attending ECCC, majoring in forensic science, when she had her car accident. Having prepared a speech for class using three things—her Bible, power lifting award, and camera. Forgetting the items at home, on her way to retrieve them she was instantly killed in the car crash on a hill on a narrow road. In her notebook in her book bag, she had written three times, II Timothy 4:17, “The Lord stood with me and gave me strength.” At her funeral, seven were saved, and the next day at church, nine more were saved. The family has begun a scholarship foundation, Load the Bar Foundation, in Claire’s memory.
The year before, she and her dad made the mission trip with Midway Baptist Church to Montana. William told of how they really needed that time together. Also, Carri is grateful for an enjoyable time she and Claire had grocery shopping the week before she died. Carri advises young people, “Start your walk with Jesus sooner. We are never promised tomorrow on earth but Jesus gives us endless tomorrows in Heaven.”
The Myers attended Montrose Baptist Church when the girls were little and Clarke-Venable Baptist Church for quite a while. Bro. Mark Vincent baptized all the girls. In 2017 they began attending Beulah Baptist. Carri sings with the Praise Team, while William is on several committees, the Security Team, and is “cooking all the time for one thing or another.” The family continues serving God in every way they can. Carri said that Claire’s verse “reminds us that when we are weak and feel like we can’t make another step, the Lord lifts us up with His strength and carries us through.”
Live for Jesus! He’s coming soon! You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
