Philip Joshua Strong

Philip Joshua Strong (“Bill” to family and friends), 94, of Hazlehurst, died Wednesday, November 14, 2018.

Visitation will be 12pm-2pm Saturday, November 17, 2018, with services beginning at 2pm at Pine Bluff Baptist Church.  Burial will be at Pine Bluff-Dentville Cemetery.  Stringer Family Funeral Services in Crystal Springs is handling arrangements.

Bill was born on Briarfield Plantation in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, on October 13, 1924, to Archie Bell Bankston Strong and Armon C. Strong.  His family eventually moved to Dentville, Mississippi, where he lived until he moved to Hazlehurst in 2003.

He joined the Navy in October of 1943 and served on the U. S. S. Orion.  When he left the Navy in 1945, he went to work with his father as a framing carpenter building houses for soldiers returning from the War.

In 1956, he went to work for the State of Mississippi as a Conservation Officer in Copiah County.  He rose through the ranks and became Assistant Chief of Law Enforcement and the first Training Officer for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (formerly Mississippi Game and Fish) in 1967.  He was promoted to Chief of Law Enforcement in 1980 and retired in 1986.

Bill was a 70+ year member and past Master of the Pine Bluff Masonic Lodge and was an avid hunter and fisherman.  He was a member of Dentville Christian Church.

He is predeceased by his parents, one brother, Clayton A. Strong, and four sisters, Thelma Jacks, Cleo Dixon, Frances Strong and Frankie Patterson.

Bill is survived by his wife of 14 years, Mary Alice Huffman Strong; three children, Dorothy S. Shealy, Phillip Joshua Strong, Jr. (Denise), and Herbert A. Strong; two step-sons, Randall Huffman (Tammy) and Roger Huffman; five grandchildren, Deborah S. Hunkapillar (Larry), Ruth S. Fairchild, Alan Shealy, Adam Strong and Stephanie S. Mueller (Aric); seven great-grandchildren, along with step-grandchildren; step-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Pine Bluff-Dentville Cemetery Foundation, Post Office Box 51, Hazlehurst, Mississippi, 39083.