Thomas "T.C" Pepper

Thomas Clinton Pepper, Jr. (Nov.6, 1939- January 25, 2024)

Thomas Clinton Pepper, Jr. was born on November 6, 1939 in Greenwood,

Mississippi and died on January 25, 2024 in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.

T. C., as he was commonly known, was raised in Belzoni, Mississippi and was the

son of Thomas Clinton Pepper Sr. (1896-1992) and Lelia Phelps Pepper (1898-1956).

He had one sister, Lelia Burton Pepper Simmons.

He was Valedictorian of the Belzoni High Graduating Class of 1957 and was

elected Permanent Class President by his Classmates. T. C., attended Mississippi State University and received a Degree in Business Administration in 1961.

While at Mississippi State, he was a member of Sigma Chi Social Fraternity and the

Scabbard and Blade, a Military Society.

He met and married Sandra Jeanette Gordon of Louise, Mississippi, daughter of Frank L. and Grace Gordon and together they had a daughter, Sandra Gay Pepper and son, Thomas Clinton ”Tripp” Pepper, III.

Following College Graduation, he entered the U S Army as a Commissioned Officer

and served for two years in the Chicago- Gary Air Defense System. While in the

Army, he was Officially Certified as an Expert on the Nike/ Hercules Guided Missile

System.

Following his military service, T. C., worked in various positions in private and

public service before going into business with his father in-law to established Gordon and Pepper Development Inc.

They built a retail business from “the ground up” at the corner of Lelia Street and Lelia

Drive in Jackson, Mississippi which he owned and operated from 1971 until his

retirement in 1994.

In 1981, he and Sandra Pepper divorced. He later married Elaine Birdsong of Edwards, Mississippi in 1985 and they divorced in 1999.

He moved from Jackson to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas in 2002, where he met and

married the love of his life, Marian Diane Smith Crowder (1947-2023).

During his lifetime, “T. C” was an avid tennis player, photographer and genealogist.

One of his lifetime accomplishments was the development of a Pepper Family Tree

which contains data on some 130 of the Descendants of his Ancestor Captain Daniel

Pepper (1706-1770) of the Colony of South Carolina.

He is survived by his two children, and two grandchildren, Grace Allison Lunardini and Thomas Michael Lunardini, all of Brandon, Mississippi. He is also survived by his sister, 3 nieces and their families.

Private graveside services will be held at the Pepper Family Plot in Belzoni. ArrangementThs were made under the direction of CedarVale Funeral inside the Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.