PORTAGEVILLE -- Funeral service for Sgt. Dennis D. Lewis III of Portageville will be held at 1 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church. The Rev. Ed Rhodes will officiate, with burial in Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau.

DeLisle Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Lewis, 65, a 27-year veteran of Missouri Highway Patrol, died Monday, Oct. 28, 1996, at his home.

He was born May 10, 1931, in Pueblo, Colo., son of Dennis D. and Ruth Highley Lewis II. He and Judy Cunningham were married June 29, 1974, at Portageville.

Lewis served with the patrol from 1962-89, and was director of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement in Troop E for 12 years. He was a member of First United Methodist Church and Sikeston Masonic Lodge 310.

Survivors include his wife; two sons, Randall Lewis of Poplar Bluff, Dennis Lewis IV of the home; three daughters, Denise Lambert of Sikeston, Kimberly Jones of Ripley, Tenn., Christina Cunningham of Deering; a sister, Grace Cole of Farmington; and 10 grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a daughter, his parents and a stepbrother.