A memorial service celebrating the life of Elizabeth ‘Lake’ Little will be held Friday July 12, 2019, at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church Outreach Worship Center, 210 S. Jackson Street, in Starkville, Mississippi. Interment will follow at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Starkville.

Little, 18, a loving daughter, sister, and friend, earned her wings on July 6, 2019 following an airplane accident. She was born in Flowood, MS, on February 12, 2001. Lake grew up in the Starkville community where she graduated from Starkville Academy in May 2019 with plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi to study Speech Pathology.

While her time on Earth may have been short, the brevity of her life did not impede her many accomplishments. Lake was not only an honor student in the classroom, she was also an all-star on fields of athletic competition across Mississippi. Lake’s leadership was displayed as captain of the soccer, tennis, and archery teams and her induction into the Starkville Academy Hall of Fame.

Friends and family know Lake truly excelled in the countless hours spent in her passion for volunteer service to others. Through her program “Reading Matters,” she helped teach the importance of reading and literacy to people of all ages.

Lake shared her gifts in volunteer service in her Starkville home community and likewise in foreign mission work overseas. First Baptist Church Starkville is where Lake came to know the Lord Jesus Christ and where she led others to grow in their faith.

Earlier this year, Lake was designated as Starkville’s Miss Hospitality. In that role, she took great pride in representing her community while promoting tourism and economic development. Lake was scheduled to compete later this month in the statewide Miss Hospitality Competition.

Lake Little discovered her love for flying at a young age, reflected in her decision to join the Civil Air Patrol. In the sky, Lake said she felt at home and there was best able to envision her life goals. Lake recently enlisted in the Miss. Air National Guard to serve her state and nation. Lake dreamed of later becoming a U.S. Air Force pilot and later flying for FedEx, while working on the ground as a Speech Pathologist.

Lake is preceded in death by paternal grandfather Archie R. Little, maternal grandfather Ernest Lowery, Sr., and uncle Gary Little and aunt Debbie Little of Hattiesburg.

She is survived by her parents, David and Pattie Little of Starkville, brothers Layton and Patton of Starkville; paternal grandmother Barbara Bass of Petal, MS; maternal grandmother Sydney Douglas of Hattiesburg, MS; uncles Ernest Lowery, Jr. (Michelle) of Oxford, MS, and William Lowery of Yazoo City, MS; aunts April Ward (Timmy) of Benton, MS; and Mary Brooks (Bart) of Bay St. Louis, MS; uncles Jerry Little, Craig Little (Michelle) and Jeff Bass (Faye) all of Hattiesburg, MS; and numerous cousins.