Lois Elaine Gilbert Brakefield

Lois Elaine Gilbert Brakefield, 85, passed away on October 9, 2026, at Senatobia Healthcare & Rehab.

Born on February 6, 1941 in Greenleaf, Mississippi, Lois lived a life marked by devotion, resilience, faith, and deep love for both family and community. She graduated from Horn Lake High School in 1958, and after graduation married her high school sweetheart, Bobby Gilbert. Their marriage lasted 14 years before Bobby’s death from heart issues. In the years that followed, Lois met life with courage and determination, working to support her two boys, Mike and Mack. She began with office work at Dover Elevator and later became an accountant and office manager for businesses and churches including Mid America Appliance and Shelby Systems.

Lois was a woman of generous spirit and thoughtful heart, someone whose presence left a lasting impression on those around her. She loved literature and poetry, and in her later widowed years she found joy in reconnecting with her classmates from Horn Lake High School. That renewed bond became an important part of her life as she took part in monthly gatherings that encouraged both herself and others. Her love of words found a home in the Horn Lake Eagles News', where she wrote a column called “Lois’s Logic.” She was especially grateful to help her late husband, Bobby Gilbert, be inducted into the Horn Lake High School Hall of Fame in 2021. Lois herself was inducted in 2017, an honor that brought her great joy and pride.

Her most cherished and rewarding work was her service to her Savior, Jesus Christ, as a missionary. With her second late husband, Bro. Johnny Brakefield, she attended Living Word College in Memphis, Tennessee. United in love and purpose, they gave themselves to ministry among the Choctaw and Navajo tribes. For 12 years they served in Oklahoma and New Mexico, building relationships that remained precious to Lois throughout her life.

The scriptures she loved reflected the faith that sustained her: Psalms 139:23-24, Proverbs 3:5-6, and Psalms 30:5. Those verses speak to the trust, hope, and steady reliance on God that shaped her days.

She is survived by her sons, Michael "Mike" Gilbert and his wife Mary of San Antonio, Texas and Malcolm “Mack” Gilbert and his wife Patti of Coldwater, Mississippi. She also leaves her sister, Robbie Chatman. Lois’s love continues through her grandchildren: Amie Townsend and her husband T.J., Heather Gilbert, Kristi Gierlinger and her husband David, Jessica Penn and her husband Tony, Luke Gilbert and his wife Cecilee, and Joshua Gilbert. Each of them carries forward memories of her kindness, her strength, and the thoughtful love she gave so freely.

She was preceded in death by her father, William Embrey; her mother, Jessie Mae Bailey; her infant son, James Scott Gilbert; her husbands, Bobby Gilbert and Bro. Johnny Brakefield; her sisters, Anne Laura Loukes, Betty Hawks, Elsie Lynn Morgan, and Julia Francis Respess; and her brothers, Raymond Embrey, Max Embrey, Avis Embrey, William “Bubba” Embrey, Tracy Embrey, and James Billingsley.

Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until the funeral service beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at Brantley Phillips Funeral Home, 2470 Hwy 51 S, Hernando, Mississippi 38632. Interment will follow at New Bethlehem Cemetery, 3961 Church Rd, Nesbit, Mississippi 38651.

Lois will be remembered as a giving and thoughtful woman whose life was filled with purpose, whose faith was steadfast, and whose love reached across family, friendship, church, and ministry. She will be deeply missed and warmly remembered.