Deborah K Denham

Funeral services for Mrs. Deborah Kathleen Denham will begin at 2:00 PM Thursday, December 18, 2025, at Robert Barham Family Funeral Home chapel with the Reverends Franklin Denham and Dr. Bill Hurt officiating, and Mr. Michael Gibson, Pianist. Interment will follow graveside rites at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens. The Denham Family will receive guests from 12:00 PM until 1:45 PM prior to funeral rites in the chapel. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.

Mrs. Denham, 71, of Meridian, died Monday, December 15, 2025, on her 52nd wedding anniversary at Ochsner Rush Medical Center in Meridian, following a brief illness.

Deborah Kathleen Jones was born and reared in Jackson, MS. She became a Christian and was baptized as a teenager at Parkway Baptist Church, Jackson, MS. She graduated from Council McClure Academy, Jackson, MS, a year early at age 17. She attended Mississippi State University, 1971-1972, married on December 15, 1973, and moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 1974 where Franklin was in graduate school at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She then enrolled in Elementary Education at Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth, TX. She moved to Knoxville, TN where she earned her BS at the University of Tennessee in 1976. She taught in the Knox County, TN, schools until 1979 when she and Franklin moved to Meridian, MS. She taught at Lamar School for several years and then finished her teaching career with the Lauderdale County School District, MS.

Mrs. Denham is survived by her husband, Franklin Denham; her children, Shellie Taylor (Chris), Lauren Pratt (Brandon), and Ragan Denham (Whitney); grandchildren, Peyton Denham, Brady Denham, Annabelle Pratt, Christopher Pratt, and Savannah Denham; her sisters, Cynthia Leonard and Theresa Gibson (Charles); as well as a host of nieces, nephews, and extended family members.

Mrs. Denham is preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Wilma Jones.

Pallbearers will be Joe Baugh, Chad Gibson, Charlie Gibson, Tyler Gibson, Brandon Pratt, and Chris Taylor.

The Denham Family suggests memorials be made as donations to East Mississippi Animal Rescue, PO Box 3162, Meridian, MS, 39303, 601-553-3060 or online at https://www.eastmsanimalrescue.com/

Online condolences may be expressed at robertbarhamffh.com.