LELA CHILDRESS

SIKESTON -- Lela Rea Parsons Childress, 79, of Marion, Ark., died Sunday, April 5, 1998, at the Johnson Hobson Care Home in Marion.

She was born Sept. 5, 1918, at Delaware, Ark., daughter of Edd and Rosil Pershall Parsons

Formerly a resident of Sikeston, she retired in 1981 from the Delta Community Hospital in Sikeston. She was a member of the First Assembly of God Church in Sikeston.

Survivors include a son, John Childress of Newbern, Tenn.; two daughters, Margie Wilkinson and Patricia Jones, both of Marion; two brothers, Everett and Edward Parsons, both of Lamar, Ark.; four sisters, Alma Galentine of Abilene, Texas, Lucille Kloth and Lucinda Cowell, both of California, and Maxine Nordin of London, Ark.; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Nunnelee Funeral Chapel.

Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. The Rev. Larry Davis will officiate, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery in Sikeston.