Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, October 5, 2015 at the Billy M. King-Colonial Chapel Funeral Home for Joel Bernard Pridgen, 78, of Hot Coffee who passed away on Friday, October 2, 2015 at his residence in Seminary.

Reverend Mason Goodman and Reverend Daryl Coats will officiate at the services with interment to follow in the Calhoun Baptist Church Cemetery with Military and Masonic rites at graveside. Music will be provided by Nelda Keys, Jamie Speed, and the Hot Coffee Strummers. Billy M. King-Colonial Chapel Funeral Home in Collins will be in charge of the arrangements.

Pallbearers will be Jay Dees, Sonny Langston, John Tommy McDaniel, Chris McDaniel, Gary Rice, Robert Sullivan, Josh West, Charles Devrow, Isaac Herndon, Ronnie Keys, Jamie Quick, and Larry White. Honorary pallbearers will be Olan Ross, Herbert Harper, Tom Powell, Carroll Dickens, and Jimmy Rogers.

Mr. Pridgen, a Covington County native, retired from the United States Navy as a lieutenant after twenty two years of service to his country. He then furthered his career by working with the Mississippi Forestry Commission for twenty years before retiring from there. While stationed in Key West, Florida during the early sixties, Mr. Pridgen had the honor of serving as the flight engineer for the first P3 Orion flight over the North Pole and then he served as the flight engineer for a special flight mission around Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962. He was also a part of the P3 Orion flight crew for an 18 day around the world mission in April 1964. Before his retirement in1977, he did his last sea duty aboard the aircraft carrier, U.S.S. Nimitz.

He was a member and deacon at the Calhoun Baptist Church, and also served as the music director. He served as the past master and member of the Marion Masonic Lodge Post # 62 and the Bunkerhill Masonic Lodge Post #311. He was a member of the Military Officers Association of America and the Covington-Jefferson Davis Counties Disaster Relief team where he responded to numerous in state and out of state disasters.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Hettie Gregg Pridgen.

Survivors include his wife of fifty eight years, Faye McQueen Pridgen of Hot Coffee; one son, Joel Michael Pridgen and his wife, Pamela of Seminary; one daughter, Kelly Rene' Pridgen Herndon of Taylorsville; one sister, Joyce Goodman and her husband, Mason of Harriman, Tennessee; four grandchildren, Josh West, Octavia Pridgen Oneisom, Charles Pridgen Devrow, and Isaac Herndon; five great-grandchildren, Levi West, Lauren West, Skyler Pridgen Oneisom, Amelia Grace Oneisom, and Ignacio Joel Oneisom; and a host of other family members and friends.

Memorials may be made to the Calhoun Baptist Church, Attention: Jay and Joan Dees, Treasurer, 2875 Highway 532, Taylorsville, Mississippi, 39168, or to the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Ministry, Attention: Covington-Jefferson Davis Baptist Association, 310 Highway 35, Collins, Mississippi, 39428.

Visitation will be held from 4:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 4, 2015 at the Billy M. King-Colonial Chapel Funeral Home in Collins. Family and friends may sign an online guestbook at www.billymkingcolonialchapel.com