Mr. Christian proudly served his country in the United States Army during World War II and worked for Norfolk & Western Railroad as an engineer and fireman until he retired in 1980 after several years of dedicated service. He had lived in Illinois the past 54 years.
On July 5, 1943, he was married to Laura Bell Roper and she preceded him in death on April 20, 2001.
Surviving are one son & spouse, Jerry Wayne & Brenda Christian of Wappapello, Missouri; two daughters and spouses, Linda Gale & Allan Cantlon and Laura Lee & Clarence Leroy Gibson all of Granite City, Illinois; two brothers, Allen Christian of Dexter, Missouri, Charles Christian of Bloomfield, Missouri; two sisters, Virginia Milner of Bloomfield, Missouri, Betty McDougal of Sikeston, Missouri; eight grandchildren, Cindy Mills, David Cantlon, Lisa Cantlon, Christine Green, Gary Gibson, Randy Gibson, Michael Christian and Brian Christian; twelve great grandchildren; five great great grandchildren. Other relatives, extended family and many friends also survive.
Friends may call on Saturday, October 22, 2011, after 11:00 am at the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield, Missouri.
Funeral services will be conducted on Saturday, October 22, 2011, at 1:00 pm in the Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home in Bloomfield, Missouri.
Interment will be in the Bloomfield Cemetery in Bloomfield, Missouri with Chiles-Cooper Funeral Home of Bloomfield, Missouri in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.watkinsfuneralhome.com
Edna Louise Saltzman Swinger of Dexter was born May 23, 1913, at Essex, Missouri. She left this earth on October 16, 2011 in Edmond, Oklahoma at the age of 98. She was the daughter of Fred & Florence Saltzman.
On May 23, 1936, Edna married Welza Swinger and to this union three children were born, Welza Lynn Swinger, Annetta Louise Swinger Nelson and Earl Lee Swinger.
She is survived by one sister, Elnora Lawson of Flint, Michigan; her children, by six grandchildren: Leslie Rena Eoff, Marlene Gaye Gardner, Carl Bradley Nelson, Aaron Lynn Swinger, Lee Anne Swinger and Heidi Suzanne Duckworth; also by six great-grandchildren.
Besides her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by one brother, Fred Saltzman Jr., and one sister Carrie Evelyn Hutchcraft.
Friends may call at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Chapel in Dexter on Saturday, October 22, 2011 from 10 until 11 a.m.
A Memorial Service will then be conducted at 11 a.m.. in the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Chapel in Dexter.
Mark Allen Smith, son of Mark Thomas Smith of St. Peters and the late Linda Blake Smith was born on September 29, 1990 at Blytheville, Arkansas and departed this life in his residence at Pevely on October 15, 2011 at the age of 21.
Mark attended the Lighthouse Christian Center at Dexter and was a resident of Pevely, formerly of Dexter.
He is survived by his father and step-mother, Mark and Sherry Smith of St. Peters: by one brother, William Wideman of Dyersburg, Tennessee: by six sisters, Michelle Dowdy of Dexter, Adonasa Abbott of Austin, Texas, Suzzette Smith of Spanish Lake, Julie Smith of St. Peters, Vanessa Greer of Sikeston and Kathrine Lofton of Dyersburg, Tennessee: by two step-brothers, Jeffrey Leslie of Dexter and Bradley Leslie of Manzanillo, New Mexico.
Friends may call at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter from 5 until 8 p.m.,, Wednesday, October 19, 2011.
Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m., Thursday, October 20, 2011 in the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Chapel with Rev. Tim Russell officiating. Interment will follow in the Dexter Cemetery.
She spent her childhood years in Bernie, MO. She was the second child of the six children of Dora (Grayum) Latham and James Arthur Latham. She was predeceased by her husband, Haskell Welborn Brown. They had been married for sixty years. They had two children.
Together, shortly after World War II, they founded Brown, Sand & Gravel Company. Starting in the early nineteen sixties, Eula worked for over twenty five years for the Missouri Department of Social Services. Also in the early sixties, Eula returned to college and obtained a B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma.
Their son, James Haskell (Sandy) Brown passed away in 2005. She is survived by her daughter Judy Brown (John) Steiner of St. Louis, one granddaughter, Diana Brown and one grandson, Mike Steiner, two brothers and their wives, Martha & William Arthur (Bill) Latham of Bernie, MO, and Joyce and James Robert (Bob) Latham of Florissant, MO.
Eula and Haskell both loved their friends and fellow worshippers and Sunday School classes at the First Baptist Church in Bloomfield. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother and friend to many. She will be deeply missed.
Friends may call at the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Bernie on Saturday, October 22, 2011 from 10 until 11 a.m.
Funeral services will then be conducted at 11 a.m., in the Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Bernie. Interment will follow in the Bernie Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Stoddard County Children’s Home, P. O. Box 164, Dexter, MO. 63841.
She lived in St Louis, Missouri before moving to Dexter, Missouri in 1985. She worked in housekeeping at the Golden Living Center in Dexter.
Surviving are her son Lester Downing of Fults, Illinios; One sister Mary Ellen Massengill of Dexter, Missouri; Two grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Other relatives and friends also survive. She was preceded in death by a son Carl Downing, one daughter Barbara Wild, five brothers, and four sisters.
Friends may visit on Monday, October 17, 2011, after 11 a.m., in the Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Dexter Missouri.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, October 17, 2011, at 1 p.m., in the Watkins & Sons Funeral Chapel in Dexter, Missouri with the Rev. Kenneth Biggs of Dexter, Missouri officiating.
Interment will be in the Dexter Cemetery in Dexter, Missouri with Watkins & Sons Funeral Service of Dexter, Missouri in charge of arrangements.
