RICHARD HART

CHARLESTON -- Richard Hart, 78, of Charleston died Saturday, Dec. 23, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

He was born Dec. 24, 1916, in Puxico, son of the late Isaiah and Ethel Fannie Harris Hart. He lived in Charleston most of his life and was a member of the Elm Street Baptist Church in Charleston. He was employed by Brown Shoe Co. in Charleston from 1951 until his retirement in 1979. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II.

He married Frances Helen Methney on July 14, 1938. She survives, as do four sons: Larry Joseph Hart and Jerry Michael Hart, both of Charleston, David Kenneth Hart of Arlington, Ky., and Charles Wayne Hart of Searcy, Ark.; two daughters: Judy Baker of Farmville, Va., and Norma Jean Choate of Crown Point, Ind.; 15 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a son, Richard Lee Hart; a daughter, Frances Ellen Cooper; a great-grandchild; two brothers and two sisters.

Funeral services were held Tuesday at Shelby Funeral Home in Charleston, with the Rev. Carl Cox, pastor of the Elm Street Baptist Church, officiating and Brother Bill Bradley of Charleston assisting. Burial was in Oak Grove Cemetery near Charleston.