George E. Straight, 89, of Neosho, Mo., died at 7:48 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008, at St. John’s Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., following several years of ill health.
    Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, at the First Christian Church, in Neosho, with Al Gritten, Minister, officiating.  A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 21,  2008, at Prairie Lawn Cemetery in Wellington with Pastor John Mikow of the Mayfield Federated Church, officiating.
    Friends may call at the funeral home Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    He was born Nov. 28, 1918, in Okmulgee, Okla., to Samuel Gilbert Straight and Inez (Tomlinson) Straight.
    Mr. Straight served his country during WWII and the Korean War, serving from 1936 until 1962, when he retired from the Air Force.  He moved to Neosho in 1972, where he worked at Talbot Wire for several years. He was an active member of the First Christian Church in Neosho and served as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff for Newton County.  He was a member of several Masonic organizations, including the local Shriners‘Hillbilly group, through which he actively supported their children’s hospital activities.
    George was preceded in death by his first wife, Dorothy Anna (McAfee) Straight, in 1983. He later married Virgina Pepper, who also preceded him in death in 2006. 
    He is survived by two sons, Lawrence Patrick Straight, and wife, Phyllis, Capistrano Beach, Calif., and Paul Edwin Straight and wife, Shaheen, Mission Viego, Calif.; a daughter-in-law, Shirley Straight, Anaheim Hills, Calif.; a brother, Robert O. Straight, Fairbanks, Alaska; 3 sisters, Pat Christensen, Lubbock, Texas, Sylvia Jones, Palm Coast, FL and Mary Ellen Hammerle, Midland, Texas; six grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.  He was also preceded in death by a sister, Carmen.
    Online condolences may be posted at www.clarkfuneralhomes.com
    Arrangements under direction of Clark Funeral Home, Neosho, Mo.