Funeral services for Noah Maxwell Sessums, 82, were held Monday, Jan. 18, 2020, at the Union City Cemetery. Pastor Jon Martin officiated the ceremony.
Mr. Sessums, long-time mayor and active citizen of Union, died in Meridian at Anderson Regional Hospital on Jan. 15, 2021.
He was a 1956 graduate of Union High School and served in the military for two years after graduation. Max and Gayle, who were married in 1959, made Union home and attended First Baptist Union. Max worked as a telegrapher and yardmaster for the GM&O and Illinois Railroads for 20 years and later owned and operated Winstead’s Grocery, where he sold gas and groceries to his faithful customers until closing the store in 1998. He was also a long-standing member of the Union Country Club and a Mason.
He served as a member of the Union Board of Aldermen for 12 years and developed a reputation for fairness and honesty. He then ran for mayor and wholeheartedly assumed that responsibility for over 20 years. “The Mayor” was especially proud of receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Union Chamber of Commerce in 2016.
In the words of his grandson Will Russell, “He loved Union, golf, his family, and the Lord.”
Max is preceded in death by his parents, Leonard and Laverne Sessums.
Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Gayle (Winstead) Sessums; his son, Terry Sessums of Union; his daughters, Sheila Russell (Billy) of Lexington and Mandy Feasel (Jamie) of Union; his grandchildren, Will Russell (Emilie), Sessums Russell (Hannah), Josh Sessums (Ashley), Seth Sessums, Rowan Feasel, Mary Clara Sessums and Jude Feasel.
Pallbearers included Wayne Welch, Jerry Flake, Jeff Breland, Brad Breland, Donald Shealy and Joey Ezelle.
Honorary pallbearers were the men and women who worked for the Town of Union between 1977-2009 and Max’s fellow golfers.
Memorials may be made to the Building Fund, First Baptist Church, 400 Main St., Union, MS 39365, or the Union Public Schools Yellowjacket Nation Foundation.
Paid Obituary
