Kenneth L. Spraker

Kenneth L. Spraker, 82, formerly of Wytheville, died Thursday, May 21, 2009, in Newark, Ohio. Funeral service will be held Saturday, May 30, at 11 a.m. at the Grubb Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Jerry Bell officiating. Interment will be in West End Cemetery with American Legion Post 9 conducting graveside military rites. He was born Nov. 17, 1926, in Wythe County, son of the late Clyde C. and Lottie K. Spraker. After his graduation from Wytheville High School in 1944, he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served in Korea. Following an honorable discharge in 1946, he began what would become a lifelong career with the Kroger Co. He was married in 1950 to his wife of 54 years, Millie, and they settled in Roanoke where he worked his way up from store clerk to the position of Mid-Atlantic Grocery Merchandiser for the Kroger Co. After his retirement in 1987, he and Mille retired to a beautiful home on top of Sand Mountain near Wytheville where he resided until 2005 when he relocated to Thornville, Ohio, to be closer to his daughter. He was a member of AMVETS Post 51 in Thornville, Ohio, the Roanoke Lakeland Masonic Lodge 190 and the Roanoke Kazim Shriners organization. He was a longtime member of First Christian Church in Wytheville and remained close to friends even after he moved to Ohio. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred F. Spraker; and younger sisters, Jean Funk and Lois Martin. Survivors include a daughter and son-in-law, Deborah and Richard Bergeron of Thornville, Ohio; three grandchildren, Katherine and Todd Dion of Dublin, Ohio, Jason T. Bergeron of Houghton, Mich., and Kerri L. Bergeron of Grove City, Ohio; and seven nieces, Teresa Montgomery, Cathy Martin, Patty Green, Melissa Weber, Linda Shipwash, Betty Bell and Bobbie Dooley. The family will receive friends Friday, May 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Grubb Funeral Home in Wytheville is in charge of the arrangements.