Former Sikeston mayor dies

Monday, January 8, 2007

Frank Ferrell

SIKESTON -- A former Sikeston mayor, city councilman and business leader died Sunday.

John Franklin "Frank" Ferrell, 87, died at 6:35 p.m. Jan. 7, 2007, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

Born Oct. 21, 1919, at Randolph, Tenn., son of the late J.V. and Thelma Jane Lanier Ferrell, he served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II as a pilot. He took his military pilot training at the Sikeston Airport Training Facility. The owner and operator of Ferrell Excavating Company in Sikeston for 62 years, he had previously co-owned and operated Ferrell Oil Company in Sikeston. He served as a deputy sheriff in Scott County and was the first director of civil defense for Scott County. He had served as a volunteer fireman for the Sikeston Volunteer Fire Department and was a member and former president of the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce. In 1985, he was named "Man of the Year." He also received the Chamber Lifetime Achievement Award. A former chairman of the Sikeston Industrial Development Corporation, he was a former city councilman and former mayor of the city of Sikeston. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Sikeston.

On Dec. 10, 1938, at Blandville, Ky., he married Henrietta Steinbeck who survives of the home.

Other survivors include: two sons and daughters-in-law, William F. "Bill" and Sharon Ferrell and John Steven and Frannie Ferrell of Sikeston; two sisters, Nadine Shuppert of the state of Florida and Barbara Wilkins of Paducah, Ky.; six grandchildren, Buzz Ferrell, Ty Ferrell, Chase Ferrell and Nikki Ferrell of Sikeston, John Ferrell of Lexington, Ky., and Lee Ferrell of Washington, D.C.; and four great-grandchildren, Jordi Ferrell, J.V. Ferrell, Wyn Roberds and Conner Wallace.

He was preceded in death by three brothers, J.V. Ferrell, Jimmy Ferrell and Billy Ferrell.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in Sikeston where services will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.