Charles Smithey Jr.

JONESBORO, Ill. — Charles "Joe" Smithey Jr., 82, of Jonesboro died Saturday, March 7, 2009, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

He was born Oct. 20, 1926, in McClure, Ill., son of Joseph Adam and Stella Durham.

He and Dorothy Ivey were married March 8, 1946, in Marietta, Ga.; she died Sept. 21, 1990. He then married Gladys Hickam Cavaness in Jonesboro on Nov. 30, 1991. They shared 17 years of marriage.

He was raised on a farm in Tamms, Ill., and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He wa a member of Jonesboro Methodist Church. He worked at Fruit Growers Packing Company as foreman for 15 years and on the railroad for five years. He worked for Illinois Department of Corrections from 1965 to 1982, first at Statesville Penitentiary and then Menard Penitentiary, from which he retired.

He is survived by his wife, Gladys Smithey of Jonesboro; a daughter, Brenda Musgrave of Marion, Ill.; a son, David Smithey of Jonesboro, Ill.; four stepdaughters, Charlotte Browder of Anna, Ill., Donna Cavaness of and Janet Braun, both of Percy, Ill., and Nancy Gearhart of Tamms; a stepson, Robert Cavaness of Wyoming; two grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; 15 step-grandchildren; 34 great-stepgrandchildren; and two great-great-stepgrandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, five brothers and his first wife.

Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home in Anna.

The funeral is at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Bob Smithey officiating.

Interment will be in Jonesboro Cemetery with graveside military honors by the Carroll P. Foster Post 3455 of the VFW in Anna.