Erby Leo Bales, 86

Funeral services for Erby Leo Bales, 86, of West Plains, were held April 20, 2018, at Assembly of God Church in Bakersfield. Mr. Bales died April 16 at Brooke Haven Health Care in West Plains.
He was born Nov, 8, 1931, at Viola, Arkansas, the son of Hamey Otis and Ora Ellen Johnson Bales. In the cotton fields, he met Sunshine Good, the love of his life, and on Nov. 7, 1949, in Salem, Arkansas, he married her. The couple was married in a jail cell because the courthouse was not available.
During his life, Mr. Bales worked as a logger, a sawmill operator and janitor at Bakersfield School. He was a musician and played guitar at church. He loved God and was concerned about where others would spend eternity. He was a deacon and Sunday school superintendent for more than 40 at the Assembly of God Church of Bakersfield. He was known as a “sweet man” loved by young and old alike.
He is survived by Sunshine, his wife of nearly 70 years; two children, Donald Bales and wife Carmen of Bakersfield and Connie Bales of O’Fallon; six grandchildren, Alecia Lowery, Georgianna “Anne” Kuk, Michael King, Jason King, Mary Beth Kyles and Karen Williams; 13 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren and two on the way; and several dearly loved nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Harley Bales and Everett Bales; and two sisters, Agnes Pendergrass and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Rhine.
Burial was in the Bakersfield Cemetery. Online condolences may be expressed at robertsondrago.com.
Arrangements by Robertson Drago Funeral Home, West Plains.