Laurin Pepper Townsend

Laurin Pepper Townsend was born in 1949, the first of the three sons of James and Betty
Townsend. At the time, the family owned and operated a dairy farm in the Concord community
near Pelahatchie, MS. He graduated from Yazoo City High School and attended Holmes
Community College. He joined the US Navy in 1969, and after training, served with the USS
Shasta (AE-6) decommissioning crew and then transferred to the USS Suribachi (AE-21). He
served four years, travelling throughout the world during the Vietnam conflict. After returning
home, he went to work at the Southland Oil Company refinery. After a few years, the refinery
was shut down, and he transferred to the Hunt Oil Terminal on the Mississippi River in
Vicksburg. During most of this time, he cared for his late mother and grandmother, living in
Yazoo City. He retired in 2014 because of health concerns. For the last two and a half years of
his life, he was bedridden and a resident at the Mississippi Veterans Home in Jackson. Pepper is
survived by his brothers and their families, Tony Townsend of Pelahatchie, MS, Jimmy Townsend
(Marie) of Dublin, Ga, and Ray Townsend (Heather) of Pelahatchie, MS.