Cecil W. Burford, Jr.

Video Memorial TributeCecil W. Burford, Jr., 79, passed away on January 15, 2015 in Madison, Mississippi. He was born on January 19, 1935 in Memphis, Tennessee to Cecil W. Burford, Sr. and Josephine Saunders Burford. Growing up in Helena, Arkansas and then Como, Mississippi he attended Como Mississippi Public School through his junior year and then attended Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, Tennessee his senior year. He attended The University of Mississippi on a four-year baseball athletic scholarship as a pitcher. In 1956 he pitched a no-hit no-run game against Vanderbilt and in the 1956 College World Series he pitched and won one game and lost one game, the first ever for the University of Mississippi baseball team. In the 1956 College World Series the team placed 3rd, the highest ranking of any University of Mississippi baseball team to-date. In college he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, Committee of 100 and the M-Club. In 2007 he was inducted into the M-Club Athletic Hall of Fame. After graduating from The University of Mississippi he played professional baseball with the Milwaukee Braves minor league for three years when an arm injury ended his baseball career. He won the last game he played in with a one-hitter. He married Nancy Elizabeth Rowsey of Courtland, Mississippi in 1961. He was predeceased by a son in 1969. He is survived by his wife, their two sons Cecil W. Burford, III, of Atlanta, Georgia and Christopher H. Burford, (Bronwyn Caves Burford) and two grandchildren, Elizabeth Faulkner Burford and Catherine Holmes Burford, all of Madison, Mississippi. He is also survived by sister-in-law, Marilyn Rowsey Canada and husband Frank Canada of Hernando, Mississippi and nephews Dr. Brad Canada and Jason Canada of Memphis, Tennessee. He was employed by Entergy Corporation (Mississippi Power & Light Company) for 34 years, past President of the Senatobia Rotary Club and had been active in the Coldwater First Baptist Church in Coldwater, Mississippi prior to moving to Madison, Mississippi. Funeral services will be held Sunday, January 18, 2015 at 2 p.m. in the Chapel of Wells Funeral Home in Batesville. Graveside service and interment will follow at Magnolia Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 5 p.m.- 7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Alzheimer's Association, or a charity of your choice in his honor.