Obituary

Dianne Sutherland Deevers Jayroe

August 11, 2026

Dianne Deevers Jayroe, age 86 and of Clinton, MS, passed away on August 11, 2026. Services will be held at Wright and Ferguson on Saturday, August 22, 2026. Dianne was born in Bogalusa to Sut and Gladys Sutherland. She grew up in Bogalusa, LA. She attended Mississippi College in Clinton, MS, and received a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. Dianne met Dr Charles Deevers in college, and they married and had 4 beautiful daughters. If you asked her, she would let you know they took after her.

Charles and Dianne moved to Bouake, Ivory Coast in 1976 as Southern Baptist Missionaries. Charles was a dentist, and Dianne was a hospital chaplain and carried a basket of tapes and tape recorders containing sermons in 50 languages. She took a translator and prayed over patients after they heard the gospel in their own language. She always spoke of this time as being the most meaningful job of her life.

After Charles passed, Dianne later married Dr. Linuel Jayroe at age 68. They resided in Clinton, MS. She loved Linuel and spoke often of their marriage. Linuel was kind, warm, and good to her. She was also pleased that she had finally gotten two sons by marriage. They were married for 17 years.

Dianne really enjoyed three things: a good hairdresser, food- particularly fried seafood and ice cream- and church. Being from Bogalusa, Dianne loved seafood, or seafood you had ordered that she hadn't thought about ordering. One of her favorite things to do on a Friday night was attend Jerry's Catfish with her best friends, the Bakers and the Hills.

Most importantly, Dianne loved Jesus. She was at the church door whenever it opened. She went to Morrison Heights and loved the pastor and her Sunday school group. She was proud that she had read the whole Bible through to her children. When her daughters were young, she made sure their hair was curly and their clothes were neat to attend church. She also led a "Concerned Women of America" group for many years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Sut and Gladys, and her two husbands, Charles and Linuel.

She is survived by her four daughters, Melissa Swingle of Pittsboro, NC; Amy Long and her husband Kerry Long of Springdale, UT; Dr Kimberly King and her husband Michael King of Frisco, TX; Christy Kaplan and her husband Justin Kaplan of Celina, TX; and her grandchildren Isabel, Josie, Mimi, Finneas, Ezekiel, Gianna, and her stepsons Will and John Jayroe.

Visitation will be held at Wright and Ferguson in Clinton, MS, at 9:00 AM; the service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, August 22, 2026.