Joshua Donald Allen, 41 of Laurel, MS passed away Monday, February 5, 2024, in Laurel, Mississippi. He was born Friday, November 19, 1982, in Naples, Italy.

A memorial service will be planned at a later date. Ellisville Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. 601-477-3797

Joshua had a childhood dream of joining the United States Air Force and becoming a jet pilot.

Due to color blindness, he was unable to fulfill this dream. During his high school years and beyond, Joshua was a skilled cell phone tech. After high school he wanted to attend a Bible College and prepare for a calling as a minister. Joshua's enjoyment included riding motorcycles. He was a huge fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He enjoyed studying his Bible and had a good heart and demonstrated a great love for people. Joshua will be deeply missed by his family and others who were touched by him.

He was preceded in death by his Grandparents, George and Geneva Thrash of Mill Creek community; William (Bill) and Ruby Griffith of Glade Community; Horace Bell of Butler, AL; Aunts, Joyce West and Sandra Craft of Glade Community.

Survivors include his father, Stephen D. Allen; mother, Paula J. Bell of Laurel, MS; sister, Shana Richmond (Jonathan). Joshua is the beloved son of his parents.

An online guestbook may be signed at www.ellisvillefuneralhome.com

In efforts to find and share comfort, the family shares this writing titled "The Next Place" written by Warren Hanson.

THE NEXT PLACE

The next place that I go will be as peaceful and familiar as a sleepy summer Sunday and a sweet, untroubled mind. And yet...it won't be anything like any place I've ever been...or seen. Or even dreamed of in the place I leave behind. I won't know where I'm going, and I won't know where I've been as I tumble through the always and look back toward the when. I'll glide beyond the rainbow. I'll drift above the sky. I'Il fly into wonder, without ever wondering why.

I won't remember getting there. Somehow, I'll just arrive. But I'll know that I belong there and will feel much more alive than I have ever felt before. I will be absolutely free of the things that I held onto that were holding onto me.

There will be no room for darkness in that place of living light. Where an ever-dawning morning pushes back the dying night. The very air will fill with brilliance, as the brightly shining sun. And the moon and half a million stars are married into one. Nor a Monday, Nor a Friday, Nor December nor July. And the seconds will be standing still...while hours hurry by.

I will not be a boy or girl, a woman, or a man. I'II simply be just simply me. No worse or better than. My skin will not be dark or light. I won't be fat or tall. The body I once lived in won't be part of me at all. I will finally be perfect. I will be without a flaw. I will never make one more mistake, or break the smallest law. And the me that was impatient, or was angry, or unkind will simply be a memory. The me I left behind.

I will travel empty-handed. There is not a single thing I have collected in my life that I would ever want to bring, except...the love of those who loved me, and the warmth of those who cared. The happiness and memories and the magic that we shared. Though I will know the joy of solitude... I'll never be alone. I'll be embraced by all the family and friends I've ever known. Although I might not see their faces, all our hearts will beat as one. And the circle of our spirits will shine brighter than the sun.

I will cherish all the friendships I was fortunate to find, all the love and laughter in the place I leave behind.

All these good things will go with me. They will make my spirit glow. and that light will shine forever in the next place that I go.