MANUEL WHITENER SR.

MOREHOUSE -- Manuel F. Whitener Sr., 73, of Morehouse, died Tuesday, May 21, 1996, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston.

He was born Aug. 22, 1922, at Bernie, son of Burette Ansolom and Pearl Mae Bayron Whitener. He and Evelyn F. Hutyra were married Feb. 1, 1944, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Whitener was a maintenance foreman 16 years with Missouri State Highway Department District 6 at Kirkwood. He was a member of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and American Legion Post in Sikeston, and was a former alderman at Morehouse. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Survivors include his wife; three sons, Sam Whitener of Edmond, Okla., Ronald Whitener of Centralia, Ill., Manuel Whitener Jr. of Mt. Vernon, Ill.; four daughters, Janet Johnson of Sunrise Beach, Texas, Jacqueline Kohler of Owensville, Lisa Tribble of New Madrid, Lora Duncan of Marthasville; a brother, T.C. Whitener of Sikeston; seven sisters, Lois Kennison of O'Fallon, Doris Schaffer of Houston, Mo., Barbara Forkum of Dexter, Joyce Kiker of Doniphan, Audrey Duckett of Fenton, Dorothy Collier of St. Peters, Carolyn Rodawald of Sappington; 19 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren.

Friends may call at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston from 5-8 p.m. today, with prayer service at 6:30.

Funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Francis Church, with Msgr. William Stanton officiating. Burial will be at 1 p.m. at Baker Cemetery in Marble Hill.