Don Black

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Fred Donald Black, 90, of Sikeston died Wednesday, April 17, 2002, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston.

He was born Oct. 23, 1911, at Vanduser, Mo., the son of Fred Emerson and Mable W. Tomlinson Black. He married Thelma L. Johnson on Nov. 13, 1949, in Sikeston. She died April 13, 1995.

He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the European, African and Middle Eastern theaters during World War II. He also was a statistical draftsman for the U.S. Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C., and in London, England, during World War II. He was a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society.

He and his father owned and operated Black & Sons Grocery and Hardware Store in Vanduser from 1938 until he retired in 1978.

He moved from Vanduser to Sikeston in 1949. He had been a member of the First Baptist Church in Sikeston since 1951.

He is survived by a son, Philip Black of Sikeston; a daughter, Karen Mathes of Alpharetta, Ga.; two sisters, Imogene Mason of Westview, Fla., and Virginia Geer of Vanduser; and five grandchildren.

He also was preceded in death by his parents.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the chapel, with the Revs. William Koch and Sandy Schaller officiating.

Burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery in Sikeston.