Funeral services for Riley Burnett Harper, age 80, of Oak Grove, Louisiana will be held at 3PM on Saturday, August 12, 2006 at the First Baptist Church of Oak Grove.

Reverends David Chapman and Wesley Bennett will officiate.

Burial will follow in the Red Wing Cemetery near Oak Grove.

Services are under the direction of Cox Funeral Home of Oak Grove.

Mr. Harper died Thursday, August 10, 2006 at the Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe, Louisiana.

An avid hunter and fisherman, Burnett Harper liked nothing better than spending a weekend at his camp with a bunch of good friends from church. He wasn't just the life of the party, he was the party. He loved jokes, prank phone calls to his friends, playing the harmonica, and a good game of dominoes with the guys at the domino parlor in downtown Goodwill.

He was a friend to everyone he met and was always willing to lend a hand, whether it was using his backhoe for a plumbing emergency or sharing the produce from his garden. He also had nicknames for everybody from "Atchins" to "High Pockets".

Burnett loved God, his family, his church and little kids. Nothing brought him greater joy than spending time with his grandchildren and great grandchildren. With mischief all over his face, a twinkle in his eye, and a big grin on his face, Burnett was loved by everyone. He was really a 12 year old boy inside who never lost his enthusiasm for life. Heaven is a livelier place because Burnett is there.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Luther Forest Harper and Mary Frances Failes Harper; 3 brothers, Leonard Harper, Curtis Harper and Bradford Forest Harper; 3 sisters, Mary Louise Moses, Myrtis Passions and Tiny Ruth Russell.

He is survived by his wife, Cloteal Elizabeth Harper of Oak Grove; son and daughter-in-law, Joseph Paul and Stacy Harper of Monroe, Louisiana; daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and Jim Thurman of Vicksburg, Mississippi; granddaughter and her husband, Jena Renee Thurman Fielder of Vicksburg; grandson and his wife, Jimmy and Stacy Thurman of Vicksburg; grandson, Micah Harper of Monroe; 3 great grandchildren, Anna Kay Fielder, Caleb Fielder and Clayton Fielder; brother Leo Harper of Kilbourne; brother, Emmett Harper of Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; brother John Robert Harper of Atlanta, Georgia; sister, Elee Finch of Ohio; sister, Mildred McDaniel of Panama City, Florida; sister, Faye Nell Barnes of Oak Grove; sister, Irene Bedenbender of Oak Grove; sister, Alene Ward of Mary Ester, Florida; 3 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.