EAST PRAIRIE -- Claude Ellis Chatman, 78, died at 5:30 a.m. Jan. 15, 2009, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.
Born Nov. 24, 1930, in Terre Haute, Ind., to the late Oscar James and Nettie Elizabeth Fields Chatman, he lived most his life in Mississippi County. He retired from Missouri Delta Medical Center, where he worked in the maintenance department, and was a U.S. Army veteran serving during the Korean War.
On June 9, 1973, at Anniston, he married Sue Riley who survives of the home.
Other survivors include: two sons and three daughters-in-law, Jeffrey and Angie Hart of Blue Springs, Kevin and Cathy Hart of Carrollton, Ga, and Tammy Chatman of Bertrand; one daughter and son-in-law, Janeen and Mickey Sturdivant of Louisville, Ky.; one brother, Bob Burlington of Decatur, Ill.; five sisters, Mary Stover of Phoenix, Julia Gunn of Weldon Springs, Melba Emery of Odessa, Texas, and Mary Lou Ward and Faye Davis of Sun City, Ariz.; 10 grandchildren; and two special friends, Dan and Kitty Presson.
On Sept. 16, 2008, he was preceded in death by one son, Kenneth James Chatman; and one daughter, Kaye Elizabeth Chatman in 1965.
Visitation is at 5 p.m. today at the Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie where services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday with George White officiating.
Burial will follow in the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield.
Pallbearers will be: Jeffery Hart, Kevin Hart, Mickey Sturdivanat, Chris Kuykendall, Scott Riley and Shannon Bowles.