William Screws, son of the late Marion Augustus and Nora Demby Whitsett Screws, was born in Hammon, Okla., June 19, 1909, and died at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston on Dec. 24, 2006, at the age of 97.

Mr. Screws had lived most of his life in Oklahoma and had moved to Puxico eight years ago. He was a member of the Christian Tabernacle in Oklahoma City, Okla. He was a retired millwright, carpenter with the J.C. Penney Company, and had worked as a boiler engineer at the Oklahoma City University.

On Dec. 22, 1934, he was married to Bonnie Estell Carper in Okemah, Okla. She preceded him in death on June 24, 1998.

Surviving are one daughter, Freda Gayle Brown-Welsch of Puxico; 22 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Graveside funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006, at the Chapel Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens in Oklahoma City, Okla., with Jonathan Brown of Sparta officiating.

Interment will follow in the Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Oklahoma City, Okla., with Watkins & Sons Funeral Home in Puxico in charge of local arrangements.