Andy Bess

DEXTER -- Andrew Benjamin Bess, 81, died May 10, 2003, at John the J. Pershing Veterans Administration Medical Center in Poplar Bluff.

Born Oct. 11, 1921, at Bloomfield, son of the late John and Ola Kelly Bess, he was employed by Roberts Plumbing and Heating in Poplar Bluff before retiring and was a member of the First Baptist Church in Dexter. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he was a 32nd degree Mason with the Dexter Masonic Lodge 532.

On Oct. 13, 1942, in Bloomfield, he married Dorothy Lee Kee who preceded him in death on Jan. 15, 2001.

Survivors include: one son, Ronald Bess of Bolivar; one daughter, Andrea Hitt of Enid, Okla.; three sisters, Pansy Barker of Dexter, Vern Tucker of Blacksburg, Va., and Louise Proffer of Panama City, Fla.; and five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

He was also preceded in death by two brothers.

Services were conducted at 2 p.m. today at Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter. The Rev. Kevin Chenoweth officiated.

Burial followed in the Bloomfield Cemetery.