Wilber Joe Childress

Funeral service for Wilber Joe Childress will be 10:30 am Friday, July 21, 2017, at Marthaville Baptist Church with Reverends Charlotte Birdwell and Glenn Howard officiating. Burial will follow at Marthaville Cemetery under the direction of Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home. The family will receive friends from 9:30 am until the time of service at Marthaville Baptist Church located at 10649 Hwy 120, Marthaville, LA, 71450. Wilber Joe Childress was born January 9, 1937, in Beaumont, TX to Walter Jackson Childress and Sylvia King Childress. He passed peacefully with his family by his side on July 19, 2017, in Natchitoches, LA. After graduating from Belmont High School, he proudly served in the United States Navy from 1955 until 1959 and was stationed on the USS Iowa. He was a very hard worker and a good provider for his family. For many years he was a welder but ultimately retired in 2001 from being the owner/operator of the convenience store in Marthaville. He was a huge NASCAR fan and never missed a race. He was blessed with a green thumb and could grow anything. He will be dearly missed by family and friends. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Stephens Childress; siblings, Melinda Knippers, and Sherry Williams; children, Rhonda Childress Vienne and her husband Chris, Deborah Childress Cochran, and her husband Greg, and Clay Childress and his wife Misty Walker; grandchildren, Morgan Vienne, Tyler Vienne, Tatum Cochran, Joseph Cochran, Ian Childress, Brady Childress, and Graham Childress. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Malola Hardy. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Children's Heart Association, or the Ronald McDonald House.