Long-time Henry County educator Roland Atkinson, age 91, of Paris died Sunday, February 16, 2025, at his home.
Atkinson was a student at the former Henry County Training School and later became a member of the faculty at the school. Later than that, he was among those first teachers who integrated Paris and Henry County schools. He taught for 38 years and was a minister of music for the Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
In 2017, Atkinson received the Loyal Patriot Award, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a private citizen in Henry County. That year at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, Atkinson said, “It takes both the black and white keys to play the ‘Star Spangled Banner’. And, “You can’t spell community without unity.”
He also was awarded the “Drum Major for Justice Award” from the Henry County Ministerial Association.
Services will be held at noon on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Puryear. Interment will follow in Greenwood Cemetery.
Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday until time of service at the church.
McPhearson-Rawls Funeral Home – Paris 731-642-1515