JESSIE WESLEY DENTON SR.

MARBLE HILL -- Jessie Wesley "J.W." Denton Sr., 78, of Marble Hill Route 1 died Friday, Jan. 24, 1997, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

He was born May 16, 1918, at Essex, son of James Monroe and Annie York Denton.

He married Florence Keltie Denton on March 29, 1941, at Poplar Bluff.

He was a retired sawyer and minister. He pastored churches in Bollinger County and did evangelistic work throughout the area.

He was a member of Mount Zion General Baptist Church near Scopus.

Survivors include his wife; two sons, Kenneth M. Denton of Beebe, Ark., and Jessie W. Denton Jr. of Marble Hill; three daughters, Mary Gorman and Rebecca Davis of Marble Hill and Eunice Wood of Meridian, Miss.; four brothers, James Denton and Wilson L. Denton of Patton, Hubert Clayton of Sedgewickville and John Clayton of Zalma; five sisters, Dorothy Fiske Denton and Myrtle Slinkard of Marble Hill, Leona Crawford of Puxico, Blanche Brown of Sikeston and Oma Pond of the state of Illinois; 15 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by four brothers and three sisters.

Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. today at Hutchings Funeral Chapel.

Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Mount Zion General Baptist Church. The Rev. Paul Jordan will officiate, with burial in the church cemetery.