THOMAS F. BURRIS SR.

CAIRO, Ill. -- Funeral service for Thomas Filmore Burris Sr. of Cairo will be held at 10 a.m. today at Algee Memorial Chapel. The Rev. Wiley Reed will officiate, with burial in National Cemetery at Mound City.

Friends may call at the funeral home from 9 a.m. to service time.

Burris, 78, died Tuesday, May 23, 1995, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

He was born Jan. 18, 1917, in Miller City, son of Thomas F. and Lydia London Burris. He and Ida Ray Pettigrew were married Aug. 5, 1946.

Burris was employed by the city of Cairo 18 years, and prior to that was a license inspector with state of Illinois. He was vice chairman of the Alexander County Democratic Party 39 years, and was elected to Cairo School Board in 1980. He was a member of the Cavalier Club and American Legion Post 899.

Survivors include his wife; six daughters, Gloria Patton, Sharon Box and Launa Lewis of Cairo, Zenobia Johnson of Elgin, Fay Baker of Cape Girardeau, Rose Burris with the U.S. Air Force in Japan; five sons, Thomas Jr., Kermit and Arnald Burris of Cairo, Wendell Burris with the U.S. Air Force in Valdosta, Ga., Thurston Pettigrew of Chicago; a sister, Ruth Chambers of South Bend, Ind.; 33 grandchildren, and 28 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two sisters, two brothers and a grandson.