Howard Elvis Deatherage, 90, of Waverly, Ill., died Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, at the VA Hospital in Danville, Ill.
Family will receive friends from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. today.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Neece-Airsman-Hires Chapel in Waverly, Ill. Burial will be at Waverly East Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Neece Funeral Home of Waverly, Ill.
Born Oct. 19, 1919, in Waverly, Ill., he was the son of Henry Elvis and Elizabeth A. Skeens Deatherage. He had been a patient at the hospital since July 2009.
He first married Norah Pedro on Oct. 6, 1941, in Hamilton, Bermuda, and they later divorced. He then married Vivian Shield on May 18, 1962, in Haywood, and she preceded him in death on Nov. 26, 2001, in McAlester.
He enlisted in the United States Navy on Aug. 6, 1941, in St. Louis, Mo. and continued his military career until he retired on Feb. 10, 1961, with the rank of chief gunners mate.
Following his discharge, he was employed at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant as a civil service employee in the same capacity he held while serving in the military. He retired from civil service in 1975.
He continued to reside in McAlester until June 2007, when he returned to Illinois as a resident of Jacksonville.
Survivors include his brother, Earl L. Deatherage, Waverly, Ill. and Boone, Iowa; his son, Howard Joseph Deatherage, Weed, Calif.; two stepdaughters, Sue Bayless and Nancy Shields, both of Tulsa; one brother-in-law, Robert D. Opolka, and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was also preceded in death by two brothers, Lawrence and Lyndell Deatherage, and one sister, Marjorie Opolka.
Memorials may be made to Waverly East Cemetery.
