Roy Wilhite

ROCKVIEW, Mo. -- Roy Lee Wilhite, 81, of Rockview died Thursday, May 3, 2007, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

He was born April 26, 1926, in Chaffee, Mo., son of Edward Elliott and Agnes Marie Sadler Wilhite. He and Mildred Mattlene Young were married April 5, 1947.

Wilhite was a retired pipe fitter who worked for the St. Louis Pipe Fitters Local 562. He was a World War II veterans serving in the U.S. Navy, a member of Grace United Methodist Church in Rockview and a Past Worshipful Master of the Chaffee Masonic Lodge.

Survivors include his wife; three sons, Steve Wilhite of Morley, Mo., Ronnie Wilhite of Rockview and Bob Wilhite of Chaffee; three daughters, Faye Jones of Perkins, Mo., Berta Payne of Benton, Mo., and Shari Austin of Chaffee; 10 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and a sister.

Friends may call after 5 p.m. today at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee. A Masonic service will be at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. The Rev. Marty Blakey will officiate, with burial and full military honors at Union Park Cemetery in Chaffee.