Amanda M. McKenzie
January 26, 1975 – July 30, 2024

Amanda Miller McKenzie, 49, of Tylertown, MS, died at her home surrounded by family on July 30th, 2024, following a courageous battle with breast cancer. Visitation will be held Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at Dinan Baptist Church in Tylertown, MS, resuming Friday from 9-11a.m. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM at the Dinan Baptist Church sanctuary with the Rev. David Parker and the Rev. Mike Anderson officiating. Graveside service to immediately follow at Enon Baptist Church Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Chris Lirette, Chris Verdun, Adam Blanks, JScott McKenzie, Mason McCallum, and Drake McKenzie.

Amanda Ethridge Miller was born January 26, 1975, in Jackson, MS and grew up in Osyka. She attended Parklane Academy, where she played clarinet and served as co-captain of the flag corps in the school's marching band. She performed with both Pioneer Sound and Parklane Singers, and she served on the Band Council. After graduating from Parklane with the Class of 1993, Amanda attended Southwest Mississippi Community College, again serving as co-captain for the marching band's color guard, and again playing clarinet, this time in the concert band. She later pursued and earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi, graduating in 1998.

For the next ten years, Amanda lived and worked in Pike County. In 2006 she accepted a position at Magnolia Electric Power, where she would go on to manage multiple teams of workers, and she came to understand MEP as a family, one in which each family member (MEP employee) had unique skills and talents which were essential to maintaining their success. Colleagues described Amanda as always knowing, "what to say, when to say it, and how to say it." Amanda would remain employed by Magnolia Electric until the day she died.

Around the time she took the job at MEP, Amanda had just finished helping one of her dearest friends close her shop in McComb. The very same friend would soon introduce Amanda to her then brother-in-law, Clark McKenzie from Tylertown. Clark and Amanda married in 2008 and enjoyed life with their wonderful girls in a home always filled with the happiness and love they shared with one another, and with the family and friends to whom their door would never close.

Amanda and her family attended Dinan Baptist Church. She was very active in her church community, and in its youth programs in particular. Amanda taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, and she organized fundraisers to ensure that every child who wished to go would have enough money to attend church camp for a week in the summer. She thought it was important that the kids in the church be involved both with the church and with one another, and she organized events that would create situations that allowed each child to find ways to contribute something unique to the group. She sang in the church choir and was active in the WOM (Women on Missions) program. Amanda was most enthusiastic about her husband, her daughters and her dogs (Mojo, Izzy and Millie).

Amanda is survived by her husband, Clark McKenzie of Tylertown; daughters Bentley Martin of Houston, TX, and Blaire Martin of Tylertown; parents Steve and Wendell Lyn Miller of Osyka; sister Abby Gautreau (Bryan) of Tylertown; brother Stewart Miller of Osyka; nieces and nephews Chelsey Blanchard, Alex Arevalo, Taylor Blanchard, Grace Tetreaux (Matthew), Ashlynn Temple (Jonathan), Buckley Martin, Skylar Martin, Taylor Gautreau, JScott McKenzie, Mason McCallum, Drake McKenzie, Kobelyn Miller, Mary Kayte McKenzie; parents in-law Odell and Kay McKenzie, brother-in-law Josh McKenzie (Katie); and sister-in-law Sonya Stafford (Billy), along with so many beloved cousins and friends.

She was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, Marvin and Juanita Simmons Blanks of Magnolia and her paternal grandparents, Fleet and Blanche Jones Miller of Osyka, andbrother-in-law Jeff McKenzie.

Memorials to Amanda should be made to the Dinan Baptist Church Youth Fund. Feel free to share your memories and/or condolences at the Hartman Hughes-Capps Funeral Home website.
www.hartmanhughesfuneralhome.com