Guyla Moreland

MOUNDS, Ill. -- Guyla W. Moreland, 95, of Mounds died Friday, July 25, 2003, at Daystar Care Center in Cairo, Ill.

She was born May 16, 1908, in Benton, Ky., daughter of Burnett E. and Annie West Wallis. She married Henry Moreland, who died in 1977.

Moreland was the society editor at Cairo Evening Citizen and Advance Yeoman newspaper in Cairo and Wickliffe, Ky. She also wrote a weekly column, "The Country Cousin," was regarded as poet lauerate of Cairo, and wrote and published three books on poetry.

She was a member of Tigert Memorial United Methodist Church in Cairo, lifetime member of International Society of Poets, past matron of Order of Eastern Star, and past president of both Cairo Women's Club and Mounds Garden Club. She was a member and served as director of public relations and tourism for Cairo Chamber of Commerce.

Survivors include a daughter, Mary Whitis of Willa Hills, Ky.; three sons, Wallis and Harry Moreland of Mounds, Franklin Moreland of Cape Girardeau; several grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by a daughter.

Friends may call at Barkett Funeral Home in Mounds from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday.

The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Kelly Cox officiating. Burial will be in Green Lawn Memorial Gardens at Villa Ridge, Ill.