Blanch Lafern Merrill, 84, of New Augusta passed away on September 11, 2020, at Merit Health Wesley Medical Center. Visitation will be Monday, September 14, 2020, at Moore Funeral Home in Petal from 10:30 a.m. until service at 11:30 a.m. followed by burial in Seminary Baptist Church Cemetery in Richton.
Lafern Merrill was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in New Augusta. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She enjoyed working in her yard.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Clarence Merrill, Sr. and Nancy Laura Merrill; a son, Johnny Wayne McSwain; three brothers, James Merrill, Junior Merrill, and Carl Joel Merrill; four sisters, Theresa Williams, Laquita Beasley, Myrtle Rayborn, and Jerry Roberts; and two grandchildren, Devin Rose McSwain and John Clay Hunter McSwain.
She is survived by her daughter, Emma Sue McSwain of Richton; her son, Johnny Clayton McSwain, Jr. of New Augusta; four grandchildren, Amanda Shows of New Augusta, Allen Shows of Richton, Casey Shows of Richton, and Candyce McSwain of New Augusta; five great grandchildren, Skye Smith, McKinley Shows, Caitlyn Norris, Waylon Shows, and Sawyer Shows; two sisters, Sarah Arnette Cowart of Ocean Springs and Darnell Hill of New Augusta; one brother, Wayne Merrill of Petal; her sister-in-law, Myrtle Merrill of New Augusta; her brother-in-law, J.M. Rayborn of Purvis; and numerous nieces and nephews.
