ORVIL BROWN

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Funeral service for Orvil "Preacher" Brown of Jonesboro will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Hileman and Parr Funeral Chapel in Jonesboro. The Revs. Leon Belt and Doug Cornett will officiate, with burial in Jonesboro Cemetery.

Friends may call at the funeral home after 4 p.m. today.

Brown, 83, died Sunday, Dec. 17, 1995, at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.

He was born April 19, 1912, in McClure, son of Elzie and Bessie Presley Brown. He and Maggie Smiddy were married Jan. 2, 1932, in Jonesboro.

Brown was a retired construction worker. He was a member of Operating Engineers Local 318 in Harrisburg.

Survivors include his wife; three daughters, Remonia Wright of Anna, Shirley Downey of El Cajon, Calif., Carylon Coryell of St. Charles, Mo.; five sons, Robert Brown of Jonesboro, Gerald Brown of Carbondale, Lonnie Brown of Dongola, Bert Brown of Jackson, Tenn., Rockie Brown of Milan, Tenn.; a brother, Oscar Brown of McClure; three sisters, Clola Mayberry of Anna, Mary Bridgeman of Manito, Myrtle Barrett of McClure; 21 grandchildren; 37 great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a son, daughter and four brothers.