Lester Milton Kersey, 89, of Sherwood, Arkansas, a retired farmer and railroad carman, died Sunday, July 11, 2010. Mr. Kersey was born Aug. 14, 1920, at Bauxite to Lucious M. and Dolly Henry Kersey. He married Lyda Belle May of Fox (Stone County) on May 14, 1941. They raised six children first at Fox and then at Sherwood, where they moved permanently in 1965. Mr. Kersey joined the U.S. Army in 1937, but was injured during training and discharged. He farmed in Stone County and did farm labor, sometimes with the entire family, in Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan, before going to work full-time for Missouri Pacific RR in North Little Rock. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lyda Belle, on Feb. 19, 2009; his parents, his sisters Ruby Kersey, Irma May, and Lois Hart; his brother, Chalmer Kersey; and his half-brother, Henry Harvey. Survivors include his daughters and sons and their spouses, Elaine and Ernest Dumas; John and Sandra Kersey; Jane and Larry Welch; Joe and Jean Kersey; James and Margaret Kersey; and Jeffrey Kersey; two half-sisters, Marguerite Shaw and Wilma McCall; a half-brother, Harry Harvey; eight grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, at the Roller-Owens Funeral Home Chapel, 5509 JFK Blvd., North Little Rock, AR. Interment at Fox Cemetery at Fox, Arkansas. Visitation will be held at Roller-Owens Funeral Home from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. on Monday, July 12, 2010. The family suggests that memorials be made to Arkansas Hospice, 5600 West 12th Street, Little Rock, AR 72204, or the charity of your choice.

Obituary provided by Roller-Owens Funeral Home, 5509 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, AR 72116.