Joe Gunn

Joe White Gunn, 84, of Pekin, Ill., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Thursday, Sept. 11, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Ill.

He was born Aug. 10, 1919, in Little Rock, Ark., son of James Oliver and Mattie Ophelia White Gunn. He and Pauline Gladys Blank were married Dec. 20, 1944, in Cape Girardeau. She died May 6, 2003.

The Gunns owned and operated Economy Shoes in Pekin 15 years, retiring in 1987. He had also worked at J.C. Penney stores in Cape Girardeau, and in Galesburg and Danville, Ill. He worked at Carp's Department Store in Mount Vernon, Ill., 16 years, and then was a store manager in California and Sullivan, Mo., Canton, Ill., and Pekin.

He was a member of Olive Branch Masonic Lodge 38 in Danville. He was pianist in several dance bands in Illinois and Missouri many years.

Survivors include a daughter, Nancy Harms of Canton; a son, James Gunn of Pekin; and a sister, Annie Parker of Jonesboro, Ark.

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

The funeral was held Monday at Preston-Hanley Funeral Home in Pekin. The Rev. Terry Edele officiated. Burial was in Lakeside Cemetery at Pekin.