Ellington

BATESVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Funeral services for former state Sen. Charles Ray Nix of Batesville will be held Saturday.

Officials at Dickins Funeral Home say Nix died Dec. 21 at his home. The cause of death was not released.

Services are 11 a.m. at Batesville Presbyterian Church. Burial will be in Batesville Magnolia Cemetery.

Nix served in the Senate from 1972 to 1988. He was chairman of the Conservation Committee for eight years.

He helped pass legislation allowing paraplegics to hunt with crossbows, requiring hunter education courses for obtaining hunting licenses and adding check-offs on income tax forms to help fund the Mississippi Natural Heritage Program.

In 2008, he was honored with the naming of the Charles Ray Nix Wildlife area in Panola County.

Survivors include his wife, Pat; three children and five grandchildren.