Simon Peete, 78, died Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008, in Germantown, Tenn.

Born in Clannon, Ark., son of the late Tommy and Leslie Drake Peete, he was an employee of the Corps of Engineers out of Memphis, Tenn.

He married Maggie Smith, who survives.

Survivors also include his children, Lessie Bays and husband, Frank, of Portageville, Mo., Tommie Peete and wife, Dorothy, and Stepahnie Peete, all of Youngstown, Ohio, Lorenzo Peete, of Caruthersville, Mo., Simon Peete, Jr., of Steele, Mo., and Sammie Peete and Rhonda Diane Peete, both of Sikeston, Mo.; two sisters, Gloria Peterson and Tempie Jones and husband, George, all of Chicago, Ill.; 25 grandchildren and a host of great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two brothers and one sister.

Funeral services were held at the H.S. Smith Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. J.T. Spicer officiating.

Burial was in the Morgan Ridge Cemetery.

Pallbearers were Tommie Peete, A.J. Miller, Bobby Peel, Simon Peete, Jr., Charles Gordon and Sammy McBride.