HOPE, Ark.—Merigold Jones Ford, 97, of Fulton, Ark., died Tuesday, July 22, 2008, in a local hospital.

Mrs. Ford was born March 11, 1911, in Azar, Ark. She was a member of Galilee Baptist Church and preceded in death by her husband, James Ford Sr.; two sons, James Ford Jr. and Willie Lee Cooper “Billie”; and five grandchildren.

Survivors include five daughters, Jerdie Richards, Mary Sims, Ruby Pope of Dayton, Ohio, Dorothy Puckett of Hot Springs, Ark., and Velma Trotter of McNab, Ark.; four sons, Joe Ford and Jerry Kern of Dayton, Benjamin Ford of McNab and Richard Ford of Fulton; one sister, Hollis Faye Willis of Paraloma, Ark.; 44 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and a number of other relatives.

Services will be 2 p.m. Sunday at Providence Missionary Baptist Church with the Rev. Otis Vickers officiating. Burial will be in Moores Cemetery, Fulton, under direction of Hicks Funeral Home.