Earl Phelps, 75, died March 10, 2008, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. He was born July 26, 1932, in Butler County, Ky., son of the late Simon Peter and Jessie Mae Tarrance Phelps. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marines, having served during the Korean War, and attended Northern Illinois University. He worked as a tool and die maker and then worked for Wal-Mart for 10 years. He was a greeter at the Wal-Mart in Dexter for the past four years.

On Sept. 3, 1976, he married Mary Hoover Phelps; and she survives of the home.

Other survivors include five sons, Philander "Skeeter" Phelps of Sikeston, Timothy Phelps of Round Hill, Ky., Phillip Huff of Morgantown, Ky., Keven Hoover and Kraig Hoover, both from Byron, Ill.; four daughters, Patricia Haynes of Glascow, Ky., Cathy Phelps and Tammy Phelps, both of Illinois, and Kathy Tarro of Goodood, Minn.; one brother, James Phelps of Mt. Washington, Ky.; 26 grandchildren; and 31 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by one son, Simon Peter Phelps; two daughters, Carol Pretz and Christine Phelps; five brothers, Frank Phelps, Nevil Phelps, Roy Smith, Raymond Phelps, and Talmy Phelps; and two sisters, Rosie Phelps and Anna Johnson.

Visitation will be held from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, March 13, 2008, at Ponder Funeral Home in Sikeston.

Funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Friday, March 14, 2008, at Old Bethel Baptist Church.

Interment will follow in the Lumbas Town Cemetery in Morgantown, Ky., at 4 p.m.

Paid