Kenneth Hite

Kenneth E. Hite, 88, of Mt. Pleasant, IA, died Thursday, October 04, 2007, at the Park Place Long Term Care Unit in Mt. Pleasant. Visitation will begin after 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 8, 2007, at the Olson - Powell Memorial Chapel, where the family will receive friends from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. that evening. The Mt. Pleasant Masonic Lodge # 8, A. F. and A. M. will conduct the Masonic Rites at 7:30 p.m. Monday evening at the Memorial Chapel. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, October 9, 2007, at 10:30 a.m., at the First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Herb Shafer officiating. Burial will be in the Forest Home Cemetery. Memorials have been established to the First United Methodist Church and the American Diabetes Association. Born June 6, 1919 in Henry County, IA, Kenneth was the son of Vernon E. and Marietta Roberts Hite. He attended and graduated from Henry County schools. In September of 1938, he married Dorothy M. Messer at her parent's home. She preceded him in death on April 7, 2007. Kenneth was a lifelong resident of Henry County, with the exception of nine years when he and his wife lived in the Phoenix area. He was employed by Henry County for 55 years working for the road maintenance department and later as a maintenance and construction supervisor. Mr. Hite was a 50 year member of the First United Methodist Church. He was a 50 year member of the Mt. Pleasant Masonic Lodge # 8, A.F. A.M., and had acquired the status of a 32nd Degree Mason. Kenneth was also a member of the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem and the Mystic Shrine in KAABA Temple of Davenport, IA. Kenneth is survived by one daughter Phyllis and her husband Dr. Ralph Barron of Akron, OH; one son, Vernon Hite and his wife Leona of Concho, AZ; five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and two great great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Dorothy, a son, Glen Hite, and by a half-sister, Katherine McPheron.