James (Jim) Castleberry was born in Bethlehem, Miss., the youngest of six children. He

graduated from Potts Camp High School in 1953. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1955,

spending two years as a surface-to-air Nike missile crewman.

Jim moved to the west suburbs of Chicago in the early 1960s. He met his darling wife, Karen, at Warrenville Window & Door Co., where she was a bookkeeper and he was a truck driver. They had their first date on November 17, 1962, and were married a little less than a year later.

After moving back south in 1967 with his wife and young daughter, Jim worked as a truck driver in Memphis while selling used cars on the side. He and Karen opened a Union 76 service station in Byhalia in 1971, and started a sand and gravel business, Jim Castleberry Trucking, a few years later.

Jim was elected mayor of Byhalia in 1991, serving one term. One of his proudest

accomplishments as mayor was the construction of a new fire station, done with donations

instead of taxpayer funds. He also had a part in expanding the town cemetery.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, James Charley Castleberry and Martha Nelms

Castleberry; his brother, William (Bill) Castleberry; three sisters, Mary Allcorn, Nellie Dawson,

and Katie New; and his beloved wife of 57 years, Karen Gansberg Castleberry.

He is survived by one sister, Martha Hardy of Cornersville; two children, Betsy (Robbie)

Robbins of Pelahatchie and Brian Castleberry of Byhalia; five grandchildren, Briana Moyer,

Alan (Nikki) Castleberry, Elizabeth (Austin) Lawrence, James M. Castleberry, and Duncan Robbins; and five great grandchildren.

Services for Jim Castleberry will be held in the Chapel of the Holly Springs Funeral Home on  Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at 11:00 am.  A visitation for family and friends will take place at the funeral home on Monday evening, June 17, from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm.  Burial, following the funeral service will be in Byhalia Cemetery.