Regina Gail Bates Garner

Regina Gail Bates Garner 1950 - 2025

Regina Gail Bates Garner,

known far and wide as “Mrs. Gail” or “Aunt Gail,” 75,

of Magnolia, passed away on Sunday, December 7, 2025, at her home, exactly where she wanted to be covered in prayers.

A visitation will be held Friday, December 12, at Glading Baptist Church from 12PM until services at 2PM, with a burial following in the church cemetery. Bro. Tom Burris will officiate and Hartman Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Born July 12, 1950, in McComb, Gail lived her life the only way she knew how: straightforward, hardworking, loyal, and honest enough to tell you the truth even when you didn’t want to hear it. She loved her people fiercely, the ones she was born to and the ones she claimed, and she made sure they always knew where they stood with her.

She married the love of her life, Louis James “LJ” Garner, on July 15, 1967. They built a home full of faith, grit, laughter, and country living done right.

After LJ passed on December 11, 2018, she missed him every day, but she kept going with the same strength we all always admired in her.

Gail worked her whole life and was proud of it, 15 years at AT&T, 7 years at Liberty Tractor, and 9 years at Fernwood Trucking Company. And if that wasn’t enough, she spent more than a decade custom-baling hay and running mill hay equipment like she’d invented it herself. If something needed doing, she figured it out and got it done.

Outside, she was in her element. Hunting, fishing, shooting guns, she loved it all. She helped LJ reload bullets and held her own at the range. She was a Life Member of the NRA and part of the Liberty Gun Club, where LJ had been a charter member.

Indoors, her hands never rested either: crochet, counted cross-stitch, embroidery, diamond art, sewing, string art, she could make beauty out of anything because she put love and patience into everything.

Her faith was steady and unshakable.

Gail was a devoted member of Glading Baptist Church, serving as Secretary and Treasurer since 2003. She handled church business with the same honesty and backbone she lived with everywhere else. Her church family meant the world to her.

Gail loved her family, all of them. Blood family, chosen family, “should-be” family. If she loved you, you knew it. And if you needed her, she showed up.

She is held in the hearts of her sisters Patricia Vernon Alford (Paul) of Kentwood, LA; Wanda Lou Coots of Port Allen, LA; Virginia Dake of Walker, LA; and her brother James Ellison Bates (Cindy) of Slaughter, LA.

She is fiercely held in the hearts of her “should-be” daughter, Katrina Ilean Coots Ward (Michael) of Greenwell Springs, LA; and the grandchildren she claimed with pride and loved as her own, Phënix and Mikelyn Jaymes.

She is lovingly and faithfully remembered by her “should-be” sons, daughters, and grandchildren, souls she gathered to her heart, nurturing them with grace, guiding them with wisdom, and loving them with the fullness of a mother’s devotion, as if God Himself had placed each one in her care: Joshua “Josh” Cole Honea

of Magnolia, MS, with Allyn, Layne and Clark; Judson “Judd” Caleb Honea (Jamie-Lyn)

of Magnolia, MS, with Jones and Jack; Jodi Daniel (Jason) of Liberty, MS, with Colby; Jill Boyd (Chris) of McComb, MS, with Andi; and Chasity Harrington (Scott) of Denham Springs, LA, with Kash.

And in the quiet moments of her days, her faithful companions her dog Deuce and her cat TC offered steadfast comfort, unwavering loyalty, and the simple, wordless love that only God’s creatures can give.

She is further held in the hearts of her nieces and nephews, Kim Paxton, Phillip Rogers, Sonya Burgo, Ginger Nguyen, Tiffany Martin, Bud Alford, Beverly Johnson, Hunter Bates, and Rivers Bates along with generations of great-nieces and greatnephews who was deeply loved by their Aunt Gail.

She was preceded in death by her husband LJ Garner; her parents James “Buddy” Vernon Bates and Rae Ilene Hughes Bates; her sister Sheila Darlene Paxton; her nephews Tommy Paxton and Scotty Paxton; her brother-in-law David Dake; and her niece Mandy Rhea Dake.

Mrs. Gail lived boldly, loved deeply, worked until the job was done, and never apologized for being exactly who she was. She shot straight in every sense and she left this world the same way she lived in it: strong, loved, prayed over, and surrounded by people who will carry her legacy forward.

Pallbearers will be Joshua Honea,Judd Honea, Michael Ward, Phenix Ward, Hunter Bates, Bud Alford, Matthew Funchess, and Duane Martin

In Lieu of Flowers: Donations may be made to The Gideons International to place Bibles in her memory, continuing the tradition she began of giving Bibles for births, birthdays, and special occasions.