It is with sorrow and gratitude that we mark the passing of Susan Paulette "Granny" Sides of Ripley, MS — sorrow at the loss, gratitude for the life.
Some stories deserve to be told slowly. This is one of them.
What is given freely returns in ways we cannot measure.
The world became a little quieter on May 3, 2026 when Susan Paulette Sides – known simply and perfectly as "Granny" – slipped from this life into the arms of her Savior. She was 76 years old and she loved deeply, lived fully and left every room a little warmer than she found it. There is something quietly poetic about her choosing May to leave us – her favorite month when the world burst with the very blooms she spent her life nurturing. It's as though, even in passing, the flowers had to greet her.
Susan was born on February 12, 1950, to Charlie Hayward Decanter and Mary Ellen White. From the beginning she knew how to fill life with meaning. She married her husband, Arthur Curtis Sides and spent 45 years building a home, a family and a faith that anchored everything she touched. Their life was the foundation upon which generations were loved and raised.
She was a woman of extraordinary energy and pride. Susan never sat still when there was dancing to be done, a garden to tend or a kitchen that needed the smell of sweets baking in the oven. She travelled whenever she could, shopped enthusiastically, sewed with patience and skill and had a knack for finding the best stores and restaurants wherever she went. Her flower gardens were not just beautiful – they were an extension of who she was: carefully tended and full of color.
Her faith was not merely a part of her life – it was her life. Susan lived every day for her belief in Jesus Christ, and the churches she attended were more than congregations to her, they were family. Her friendships there were deep and lasting, woven from years of shared worship, service, and love.
Even as illness began to cast its shadow in her final days, Susan refused to stop moving. Independence was not just a habit – it was a point of pride for her. She did everything with dignity and intention, right up until the end, because that was simply who she was.
Among all the beautiful chapters of her life, perhaps the most treasured was the one she shared with her great granddaughter, Alex. Susan called her her little shadow and it was the most fitting name imaginable – Alex was always close, always watching, always learning from a woman worth following. Their bond was something rare and sacred, the kind of love that leaves a mark on a child's heart forever.
Susan was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Arthur Curtis Sides, her parents, Mary Ellen White and Charlie Hayward Decanter, her eldest son, Tony Curtis Sides, her brothers, Henry and Billy Decanter and her very dear friend, Sylvia Percy, all companions and loved ones who no doubt welcomed her home.
She is survived and deeply missed by her son, Gerry Richard Sides, her daughter, Mallisa Gail Ordonez, her grandchildren, Krystian Lynn Kamerzink, Erik Landon Ordonez Sides, Edgar Brandon Ordonez and her three great grandchildren, Zane Hayden Kamerzink, Alex Elayna Kamerzink and Felix Wayne Ordonez – a legacy of love that will walk in her footsteps.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 9 at the Covington Funeral Home chapel. Graveside services will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9 at the Antioch Cemetery in Ripley, MS. The family will receive friends from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday, May 8 at the Covington Funeral Home.
Granny, you danced when you were happy, you baked when you wanted to show love, and you kept your faith even when the road was hard. We will look for you in every garden in bloom, in every song that makes us want to move and in the quiet, steady courage it takes to live in grace.
She never stopped moving. She never stopped loving. She never stopped being exactly who she was.
Until we meet again.
