Jesse DeWeese

CAIRO, Ill. -- Jesse E. "Gene" DeWeese, 82, of Cairo died Sunday, Feb. 24, 2002, at Union County Hospital in Anna, Ill.

He was born Jan. 24, 1920, in Blandville, Ky., son of Elbert and Willie Clark DeWeese. He married Mary Ann Clark, who died Dec. 28, 2001.

DeWeese was an automobile mechanic and lived most of his married life in California, recently moving back to Illinois. He was a veteran of World War II, and was a telephone and telegraph lineman with the Signal Corps. He was a charter member of Cairo VFW Post and helped in the construction of the first club building.

Survivors include a son, John DeWeese of Destin, Fla.; a daughter, Anita Vishon of Wickliffe, Ky.; five sisters, Lonis Dilworth of Cairo, Ann Butts of Goodlettsville, Tenn., Hazel Tolar of Pulaski, Ill., Catherine Kellem of Olathe, Kan., Mary McGuire of Milford, Conn.; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a brother.

Friends may call at Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge, Ill., after 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Ernest Browning officiating. Burial will be in National Cemetery at Mound City, Ill., with full military honors by Pulaski County VFW Post 8891 in Mounds.