Neicy S Grant

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PLANTERSVILLE – Lillian Juanice Neal Grant, at the grand ole age of 94, crossed over to her eternal home in the early hours of Wednesday, March 31, 2021 from the Griffis Green House at Methodist Senior Services where she had briefly resided.  Known far and wide as Neicy, Mrs. Grant was born on October 18, 1926 in Houston, MS. to the late Leon Neal and R. E. Davis Neal.  She graduated from Houston High School and met and married the dashing William Towery “Tack” Grant in Jackson while in business school there. He had just returned from a brilliant U.S. Army tour of duty as a gunner pilot on a B-24 in World War II, where he received the Purple Heart and other medals for his patriotism and courage.  They settled on the Grant family land in Plantersville where they lived the rest of their lives. Tack died on May 25, 1998.  She was in sales at Sears and Roebuck, retiring as Department Head of the House wares, Linen and Boys Wear department for many years before becoming a full time housewife.  She served a few years as a teller at the Plantersville branch of Peoples Band and Trust Co. Neicy had a great love for Plantersville, her people and their needs and the ministries of the Plantersville United Methodist Church especially the flower ministry, of which she had been a member since 1945.  For more than thirty years, she was the Treasurer of the Plantersville Cemetery Association. She served as Plantersville’s “First Lady” the 16 years her husband, Tack, was the town’s Mayor.  She also was a regular on “Route One” Plantersville helping Tack deliver the mail. Neicy loved to entertain, was a great cook, loved her flowers, was an avid reader before her sight diminished and she loved good music.  She and Tack, who was also a legendary American Legion baseball coach in the 1960s and 1970s, were pro baseball fans extraordinaire and made yearly pilgrimages to Kissimmee to the spring training sessions. She was a lifetime member of the American Legion Auxiliary. She loved her late white poodles, Toodles and Mikey. Her dogged independence, dry wit and infectious laughter will always be a part of her beautiful legacy.

A service celebrating her life will be held at 10:30  AM Saturday, April 3, 2021 at the Plantersville United Methodist Church with Rev. Lynn Fair and Rev. Ken Corley officiating. Private burial will follow in the Grant family plot at Plantersville Cemetery.  Visitation will be from 4 PM – 6PM Friday at the Tupelo Chapel of Holland Funeral Directors, which is honored to be serving their extended family.

Neicy is survived by her daughter, Charlotte Grant Diggs and her husband, Joe of Plantersville; 5 grandchildren, Michelle Sartin (Wade), Melinda Ownby (Jim), Bill Diggs, Justin Clark and Chris Clark; 4 great grandchildren, Heather Hall, Cody Rodgers, Leanna Weeks, Jesse Sartin and Samantha Warren;  a great great granddaughter, Katrina George; a daughter in law, Allyson Grant of Plantersville and her family; a son in law, Steve Clark of Collierville, TN; one sister, Sally Beaty (Lamar) of Houston; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Tack, and two children, Pat Grant Clark on Oct. 25, 2013  and Freddy Grant on Dec. 12, 2020;  her siblings, Marie Sheffield, Leon Neal, Jr., James Neal, Molly Johnson, and Dorothy Martino.

Pallbearers will be Sextus Shannon, John Reed Foster, Hilton Peters, Cody Rodgers, Jim Ownby and Wade Sartain.

Memorials may be made to the Tupelo 49ers American Legion Baseball Program,  402 Magnolia, Tupelo, MS 38804 and to the Tupelo-Lee Humane Society, P. O. Box 2143, Tupelo, MS 38802. Condolences may be emailed to hollandfuneraldirectors@comcast.net.