JOHN BUTCHER SR.

THEBES, Ill. -- Funeral for John Butcher Sr. of Thebes will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church. The Rev. Carl D. Fisher will officiate. Burial will be in Old Thebes Cemetery, with military rites by Carroll P. Foster VFW Post 3455 of Anna.

Friends may call at Crain Funeral Home in Tamms after 5 p.m. today and Sunday from 8-11 a.m., and at the church after noon.

Butcher, 74, died Thursday, March 23, 2000, at St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis, Mo.

He was born Sept. 9, 1925, at Thebes, son of Deward and Maggie Clutts Butcher.

Butcher was a self-employed general contractor. He was a member of First Baptist Church and was serving on the Thebes Village Board.

He was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War. He served in Germany and Japan during World War II. He earned an American Theater Ribbon, European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with two Bronze Stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon and Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon.

Survivors include his wife, Leota; four sons, John Butcher Jr. of Tamms, Jack Butcher of Olive Branch, Jerry Jacobs of McClure, Tony Jacobs of Waterloo; two daughters, Sue Byrd of Cape Girardeau, Mo., Teresa Stiff of Olive Branch; two sisters, Tressa Marchildon of McClure, Naomi Williams of Fairmont City; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a grandson and a great-grandson.