Funeral services for Jack Overton Methvin, 90, of Southside will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008, at Morgan Funeral Chapel, Bill Drummons and Gene Griffith officiating, with burial in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Nesmith.

Morgan Funeral Chapel in Attalla is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Methvin died Saturday, Sept. 27. Jack O. Methvin was a member of Southside Baptist Church and a resident in Southside for the past 22 years. He was a native of Arley and a highly decorated World War II veteran who flew 55 missions in 18 months as a bombadier/navigator for the U.S. Army Air Corps with the 13th Bomb Squadron, 5th Air Force. Mr. Methvin saw action in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, which was a turning point in the Japanese conquest of the Pacific. His journal of his time in the Pacific during the war detailed accounts of various battles of the life of a soldier during the time, and of near death encounters has been used in novels and published accounts of wartime in the Pacific. He retired from the U.S. Air Force after 20 years. The Methvin family spent three of those years in England in the 1950s. After retirement, Jack O., wife, Christeen and children, Jill and Jerry, lived in Lake Charles and Lafayette, La., for 37 years before moving to Southside. He also worked for Pittsburg Plate Glass and Southern Gulf Marine for 25 years after retiring from the military. Jack O. was a devoted husband to his wife of 64 years and a loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather. We will all remember him as a hero, not just for our country and the sacrifices he made as part of the greatest generation but also for his gentle demeanor, for his kind words for all around him and for the Christian legacy he left for his family. He loved the outdoors, working in the garden, playing with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren and traveling. We all have wonderful memories of Paw-Paw Jack and he will be greatly missed. We will see him in heaven.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Christeen Luncford Methvin; his parents, John and Clemie Methvin; a granddaughter, Leigh Michelle Methvin; a sister, Vondie Korpita; two brothers, Orland and Overland Methvin; and brothers-in-law, Berson Crider and George Korpita.

Survivors include a son, Jerry (Mary Ellen) Methvin of New Iberia, La.; a daughter, Jill (Pete) Barrett of Southside; three granddaughters, Christi (Jonathan) Hurley of Trenton, Ga., Amanda (Marty) Messer of Concord, Calif., and Melissa (Shawn) Griffin of Gadsden; a stepgranddaughter, Catherine Harris of Austin, Texas; a stepgrandson, Andrew (Bethany) Harris of New Iberia, La.; five great-grandchildren, Caroline, Julia, Sidonia, Jake and Wyatt; four sisters-in-law, June and Audrey Methvin, Esther White and Mile Luncford; a special sister, Estelle Crider; and a host of nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers will be John Korpita, Mike Korpita, Barry Methvin, Larry Methvin, David Graham, Alex Graham, Shawn Griffith and Jonathan Hurley. Richard Crider will be honorary pallbearer.

A special thanks to Annette Griffith, Linda Humphrey, Kim Nelson, Wendy Kanaday and the nursing staff at McGuffey Rehab and the fourth floor at Riverview Regional Hospital.

Visitation was Monday.