Greg Douchard wore two distinctly different hats: shop committee chairman for a large employer, and cattle rancher.

Mr. Douchard, 50, lived on a farm, raising Polled Hereford cattle, which he showed at county fairs through Mississippi, often accompanied by his three children, Brett, 20, an accounting major at Mississippi State University, Corey, 17, and April, 12. Divorced, he remained close to his children, and was active in the local 4-H Club with them.

''You couldn't pinpoint one thing, he was just a great family person,'' said his wife's aunt, Edwina Allen. ''They all spent the Christmas holiday together. It was a good, simple time.''

Mr. Douchard, raised in nearby Bassfield, Miss., worked for Delphi Packard Electric for 19 years and had hoped to retire from there ‹ to a more leisurely life on his farm in the hills of southern Mississippi.