Wilma Boatner Hentz

Wilma Boatner Hentz, age 90, passed away Saturday, April 4, 2026, at her home in Courtland, MS.

Funeral services for Wilma will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, April 6, 2026 in the Martin Willingham Memorial Chapel of Wells Funeral Home with the interment to follow at Eureka Private Cemetery in Courtland, MS. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

She was born on July 8, 1935, in New Albany, Mississippi. 

Wilma was a woman who loved her family deeply and stayed connected to the people who mattered most to her throughout her life. She had a quiet strength about her and was someone her family could always count on. She loved spending time with her family and took great pride in her children and grandchildren. She also enjoyed playing cards, watching Wheel of Fortune, square dancing, playing the Social Security game, and watching her birds. 

Wilma retired from South Panola Junior High School as a teacher’s assistant. She later worked with Green Thumb Job Services in her 70s, where she enjoyed helping others and continued to make a difference in her community. 

She was a longtime member of First Baptist Church in Batesville and spent many years as an active member of the Lion’s Club. 

She is survived by her children, Billy F. Hentz (Connie) and Jeffrey D. Hentz (April); her beloved grandsons, Collin Britt Hentz and Clayton Pierce Hentz, who held a special place in her heart; her step-granddaughters, Haley Harris (daughter Isabella) and Kristin Nix (Adam), and her great-grandchildren, Isabella, Noah, and Collier; her sisters, Juanita Farmer and Ann Spencer (Billy); her brother, Thomas Wayne Simmons; as well as many nieces and nephews who loved her dearly. 

She was preceded in death by her husband, Billy Gene Hentz; her brother, Travis Lamar Boatner; her parents, Vardaman Boatner and Verdell Jarrett Boatner; and her stepfather, Noel Simmons.