CHARLES WRIGHT

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Funeral for Charles E. Wright of Searcy, Ark., will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. The Rev. Gerald Brown will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.

Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today.

Wright, 65, died Monday, Jan. 8, 2001, at Beebe Retirement Center in Beebe, Ark.

He was born June 13, 1935, in Charleston, son of Jacob Merle and Anna Elizabeth Essary Wright. He and Virginia Thompson were married April 10, 1954.

Wright had served on Charleston City Council and as mayor of Charleston in 1966. He owned and operated Wright Equipment Co. until 1972. He was involved in the grain business 40 years, having served as manager for elevators in Missouri; Blytheville and Augusta, Ark.

He lived in Searcy the past several years. He was a member of St. James Catholic Church and Knights of Columbus. He was a past member of Elks and Lions Clubs, president of Arkansas Seed Dealers in 1983, president of Mid South Shippers 1992-94, and co-president of Augusta Industrial Development 1991-92.

Survivors include his wife; five sons, Charles Wright of Caruthersville, Mo., Jeffery Wright of Flower Mound, Texas, Robert and Boyd Wright of Searcy, Richard Wright of Blytheville; a daughter, Deborah Gairhan of Jonesboro, Ark.; two brothers, Jacob "Jack" Wright of Chaffee, Mo., William "Bill" Wright of Brentwood, Mo.; two sisters, Peggy Berbling of Topeka, Kan., Pat Frayser of Cape Girardeau; and 11 grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother.