Dr. Donald Barraza

Dr. Donald Barraza, 81, of Hazlehurst, died Wednesday, April 15, 2008 at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson.

Visitation will be 1pm-2:30pm Saturday, April 18, at Pleasant Valley Methodist Church.  Services will be 2:30pm Saturday, April 18, at Pleasant Valley Methodist Church with interment in the church cemetery.  Stringer Family Funeral Services in Hazlehurst is handling arrangements.

Dr. Barraza was born in New Orleans.  He graduated Jesuit High School in New Orleans and Loyola University.  He served in the U. S. Marine Corps during WWII.  He then graduated Medical School at LSU, New Orleans.  Dr. Barraza served in the U. S. Navy.  He then trained in OBGYN and was Board Certified at Ochsner Foundation and served on staff there. Later an illness caused him to retrain at University of Arkansas Medical Center in Dermatology and he later practiced in Natchez over 35 years.
 
Dr. Barraza was a member of The American Academy of Dermatology, Homochitto Valley Medical Society and Mississippi State Medical Society.
 
Dr. Barraza loved singing and performing in the Natchez Little Theatre, The Natchez Pilgrimage and The Mississippi Medicine Show.  He was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church.  After retiring, he and his wife of 58 years moved to Nashville, TN and to Copiah County.
 
He is survived by wife, Lucille McGee Barraza; sons, Donald Frank Barraza Jr. and wife Stacy of St. Joseph, LA, Dr. Mark Aubrey Barraza and wife Leslie of Jacksonville, FL, and Dr. Kenneth Rudolph Barraza and wife Jana of Jackson; daughter, Dr. Mary Barraza Taylor and husband Michael of Nashville, TN; ten grandchildren, Sallie, Alex, Annie, Ellen, Mark Aubrey, Landon, Simmons, Jackson, Cille, and Aubrey; brother, Dr. Lionel Barraza and wife M’Elise of Monroe, LA; and numerous nieces and nephews.
 
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Pleasant Valley Methodist Church.