Emma Lou Parsons Rast, 93, of Iuka, Mississippi, departed this life peacefully on Thursday, February 17, 2022, at Tishomingo Community Living Center. Mrs. Rast was born to parents James Thomas Parsons and Lona Mae Oliver Parsons Murray on March 23, 1928, at home in the Providence community in Tishomingo County, MS. She married her lifelong husband and partner, Clifford Whitson Rast, in 1947. Following a brief period of time living in Chicago, IL, they returned to Iuka, MS, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Her husband passed from this life in 2015. Emma was a faithful member of the Iuka Church of Christ. She was a lifelong homemaker, and also worked with her husband in their family business, C & J Auto Repair in Iuka. She enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and was especially fond of her nurses at the Tishomingo Community Living Center. She is survived by three children, Shirlee Rast Taylor (Wayne), Betty Rast Bishop (Jerry), and James “Jim” Clifford Rast (Delores); five grandchildren, Craig Bishop, Joseph Bishop (Ellen), Brian Taylor (Raleigh), Harley Williams (Jeff), and Sarah Atkins (Johnny); twelve great-grandchildren; and seven great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Clifford; her parents; her baby brother, James Franklin Parsons; her step-father, Jack Murray; her sister, Easter Parsons Wadkins and husband, Clinton; and her great-grandson, Brandon Nicholas Bishop. Cutshall Funeral Home of Iuka, MS is entrusted with arrangements. Funeral services are scheduled for 2:00 p.m., Monday, February 21, at Cutshall Funeral Home Chapel in Iuka. Interment will follow in Providence Cemetery. Visitation is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. until service time at the funeral home on Monday. The family would respectfully like to request that COVID protocol be observed and masks be worn by those in attendance. Memorials may be made to Pine Vale Children’s Home, 1872 CR 700, Corinth, MS 38834; or by phone at 662-286-6555.
