Johnny Lishman

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Johnny Ray "Cotton Chopper" Lishman, 65, of Charleston died Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

He was born July 9, 1943, in Carroll County, Miss., son of Wheeler and Minnie Lou Blakely Lishman.

Lishman lived in Mississippi 55 years and had lived in the Charleston area the past 10 years. He was a retired truck driver and worked 37 years for Hankins Lumber Co. in Grenada, Miss. He was a member of Unity Baptist Church in Duck Hill, Miss.

He first married Joann Williamson. He and Betty Joyce Neal were married March 19, 1987. She died Nov. 2, 2006.

Survivors include a daughter, Lisa Denton of Morton, Miss.; a stepson, Larry Holmes of Benton, Mo.; two brothers, Wesley and Wheeler Lishman Jr. of Grenada; two sisters, Pearl Dyche of Grenada, Louise Grantham of Greenville, Miss.; a stepgrandson; and five great-stepgrandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a brother, a sister and a stepgrandson.

Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. today at McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston.

The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will be in IOOF Cemetery near Charleston.