MOUNDS, Ill. -- Kenneth A. Lentz, 71, of Mounds died Tuesday at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

He was born July 17, 1927, at Elco, son of Joseph Henry Lentz Sr. and Cecile C. Gaskill.

On March 17, 1950, he married to Betty Ann Russell in Mounds. She survives.

He had served in the U.S. Navy and was a veteran of World War II.

He was a member of Smiles 1 Senior Citizen Center and the First Baptist Church in Mounds where he served as trustee and financial secretary. He was a retired member of the Mounds Volunteer Fire Department. He retired as staff manager from the Washington National Insurance Co. in Cairo in 1981.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Karen Sue of Oran, Mo.; two sons, Kenneth Wayne of Malden, Mo., and Virgil Keith of Edwardsville; three brothers Gerald of Ullin, Mark of Elgin and Luther of Bridgeton, Mo.; and six grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a brother, two half brothers, a half sister and a grandson.

Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday and from 8 a.m to 1 p.m. Friday at the Barkett Funeral Home in Mounds.

Funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at the funeral home, with the Revs. Al Cobb and Verlee Eaker officiating. Interment will follow in Spencer Heights Cemetery in Mounds.