WILLIAM R. BEARD

Funeral service for longtime businessman William R. Beard, 625 Louis, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Ford and Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. The Rev. Neil Stein will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park.

Friends may call at the funeral home from 4-8 p.m. today.

Beard, 72, died Monday, March 29, 1993, at his home.

He was born Nov. 13, 1920, in Cape Girardeau, son of William W. and Mary Mildred Rector Beard. He and Juliene Brinkopf were married June 21, 1944, in Milton, Fla.

Beard was owner/operator of Beard's Sports Shop, 811 Broadway, since 1958.

He received a bachelor of science degree in agriculture from Southeast Missouri State University. He was a pilot instructor with the Naval Air Corps during World War II.

Beard was a member of Centenary United Methodist Church, Naval Air Reserve, NRA, and Horseshoe Bend Hunting and Fishing Club. He founded Cape Bootheel Bow Hunters, and started the first fast draw club here.

Survivors include his wife; two sons, Donald and Daniel Beard of Cape Girardeau; a brother, Robert Beard of Sunrise Beach; a sister, Mildred Wertz of Cape Girardeau, and four grandchildren.