Palestine High School Alumni Association

12  / 08 / 1921  –  07 / 04 / 1996

Services for R. Speegle Berry, 74, of Berryville, will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at First Christian Church in Jacksonville with the Rev. Peggy Adams Edge officiating.  Burial will be in Roselawn Park under the direction of Bailey & Foster Funeral Home of Palestine.

Mr. Berry died Thursday in Palestine.

He was born in Palestine on December 8, 1921, to Joe Belle and Tinie Swinney Berry.  He graduated from Palestine High School and Nixon Business College in Palestine and NTSCH in Indianapolis, Indiana.

He was a field service representative of Kiwanis International and a member of the International Office staff.  He had been a Kiwanian since 1946.

Prior to joining the Kiwanis International staff in 1973, he served as executive vice president for Royal National Bank of Palestine and then as executive vice president of Durant National Bank in Durant, Oklahoma.  He was president and chief executive officer of Bowie National Bank in Bowie, before leaving to open Northwest National Bank in Fort Worth.

Mr. Berry also served as director of the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce, White Settlement Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the Metropolitan Highway Committee and Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.  He was past president of the Palestine Quarterback Club, past chairman of the Anderson County Scouting Program, past president and secretary of the Anderson County Christmas Cheer Fund and the Anderson County Charity Association, director of the Texas Easter Seal Society and president of Texas Dogwood Association.

He also was a member of the 100 Long Range Planning Committee for Texas Christian University and a member of the Tarrant County Texas Highway Improvement Association.  He was director of a Fort Worth Texas Hospital Board and a member of numerous city and county organizations.

Mr. Berry was a veteran of World War II, serving on the USSS Merrick as a radio operator in the Pacific Theater.

He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Margaret G. Berry; daughters, Emilynn Wilson and Lynn Halford; stepdaughter, Suzanne Wade; stepsons, W. Gary Williams and Scott K. Attaway; brothers, J. Bernard Berry Sr. and Howard Berry; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

The family will receive condolence calls from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home.