JOE NUNNELEE

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Joe Robert Nunnelee, 78, of Matthews, Mo., and formerly of Sikeston, died Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston.

He was born July 4, 1922, in Blodgett, Mo., son of John Fred and Audrey V. Moxley Nunnelee Sr.

He graduated from Blodgett High School in 1940 and then attended Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. He played football while at the university and was a member of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity. He was a 1942 graduate of Hohenschuch-Carpenter College of Embalming. He became part owner and was funeral director and embalmer at the Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Charleston, Mo., from 1942 until 1951, when he sold his interest in the family business.

He served in the United States Army during World War II, serving in the South Pacific.

He was a licensed insurance agent and worked for the Equitable Life Assurance Society and Security-Connecticut Life Insurance Co. In 1962, he became a chartered life underwriter and was a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable for Equitable.

He was a member of First Methodist Church in Blodgett and later attended Tanner Street Church of God in Sikeston.

Survivors include a son, Mark Nunnelee of Kansas City, Mo.; two daughters, Laura Nunnelee of Houston, Texas, and Amy Nunnelee of Sikeston; three grandsons and a great-granddaughter.

He was preceded in death by a son and two brothers.

Friends may call from 5-8 p.m. today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston.

Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the chapel, with the Rev. Lee Fansler officiating. Burial will be in IOOF Cemetery in Charleston.