JOSEPH EDWARD MCCRATE

PORTAGEVILLE -- Joseph Edward McCrate, 80, of Portageville died Sunday, Sept. 18, 1994, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

He was born May 28, 1909, in Ohio to Delphine Dunn and Joseph Casey McCrate.

Funeral service will be held this morning at 11 at the St. Eustachius Catholic Church in Portageville. Father Roger Levielle will officiate.

Burial will be at the Portageville Cemetery.

He married Zelline Hobbs in 1933. They had eight children: Mary, Joseph, Robert, James, Martha, John, Thomas and Ann.

Zelline preceded him in death on April 4, 1958.

On Jan. 2, 1960, he married Harriette Hunter in New Madrid.

He survived by his wife, seven children, 12 grandchildren, and six great grandchildren. Also surviving are three sisters, Cornelia of Lima, Ohio, Delphine Alsobrook and Charlotte Meatte of St. Louis; and one brother, Michael McCrate of Cape Girardeau.

He attended St. Eustachius School, University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio and the University of Missouri in Columbia.

As a young man, he served as superintendent of the Hayward School District. For a time, he operated a dry cleaning shop with Arthur Hobbs.

He served two terms as mayor of Portageville. For many years, he and his father and brother, David, operated McCrate Equipment Company.

He was a member of the Rotary Club and the Knights of Columbus. He was a director of the board of the Bank of New Madrid, past president of the Mid-South Farm Equipment Dealers Association and a past member of the board of St. Francis Medical Center.