Preston Adams Carson, 78, of Pinckneyville, Ill., was born on June 4, 1926, in Oakdale, Ill. He died Monday, Sept. 20, 2004, at Pinckneyville Hospital Skilled Care.

Mr. Carson was a member of First United Presbyterian Church, Pinckneyville, Ill., and formerly an elder and Bible teacher at Oakdale Reformed Presbyterian Church, Oakdale, Ill. He was a long­time 4-H leader, a member and a president of the Oakdale Grade School Board of Educa­tion, one of the founders and a longtime board member and treasurer of Washington Coun­ty Water Co., a member and an officer of Tri-County Electric Cooperative board of directors, a member and longtime president of the board of directors of Oakdale State Bank, winner of the Prairie Farmer “Master Farmer” Award in 1988, a member of the Oakdale Ball Park Board, and a member of the Rural Youth as a teenager.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John Elwyn and Edna Joanna (Adams) Car­son; and his first wife, Martha Jane (Harsh) Carson, whom he married May 27, 1949, and who died Feb. 17, 1989.

Surviving are his wife, Frances Torrens Kiehna, whom he married Aug. 1, 1990; two sons, Phil (Joyce) Carson; and Neal (Carol) Carson, both of Oakdale, Ill.; a daughter, Becky (Roger) Kellerman of Nashville, Ill.; a stepdaughter, Sandy Kiehna; two sisters, Eileen Auld of Oakdale, Ill., and Joann (Bill) Richards of Nashville, Ill.; seven grandchil­dren, Amy Hale, Christy Struckmeyer, Katie Carson, Samantha (Gary) Tretter, David Carson, Jessica Carson, and Daniel Carson; and two great-grandchildren, Abbey and Allison Hale.

Funeral services were held Sept. 23 at Oakdale RPC with Phil Carson officiating. Burial was in Oakdale Cemetery.

—submitted by Ray Morton, pastor

Oakdale RPC