CHARLESTON -- Eli E. Thresher, 80, of Barlow, Ky., Route 1, formerly of East Prairie, died Thursday, July 28, 1994, at the Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Ky.

He was born on Feb. 14, 1914 at Paulding, Mo., son of Eli and Hattie Harlan Thresher Sr.

He had lived in Barlow for the past 25 years. A retired farmer, he was a member of the First Baptist Church at LaCenter, Ky.

On Oct. 17, 1936, he married Berniece Simpkins, who survives of the home.

Also surviving are two sons, Donald Ray Thresher of St. Louis and Gary Thresher of LaCenter; two daughters Rosemary Oliver and Lola Mae Armstrong, both of Charleston; one brother, Floyd Thresher of East Prairie Route 1; two sisters, Goldie McIllwain Watson and Gertrude Bain, both of East Prairie Route 1; 10 grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

One grandson and three brothers preceded him in death.

Funeral service will be conducted at 3 p.m. Saturday at the McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. The Rev. Mark Bond, pastor of the First Baptist Church of LaCenter, the Rev. Gerald Collier, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, and the Rev. David Craig, pastor of the Powerhouse of God in Sikeston, will officiate. Burial will follow in the family mausoleum at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery near Charleston.