LAWTON, Okla. — Clarence Pierce Jr. died Saturday, April 4, 2009. He was 79.

Mr. Pierce was born in Port Gibson and attended school in Vicksburg. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and a member and usher of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Lawton.

He was preceded in death by his parents; four aunts; three uncles; and three great-grandchildren.

Survivors include his wife, LaFlora Thomas; two sons, James Pierce of Lawton and Clarence Pierce III of Killeen, Texas; two daughters, Deborah Finklea  of Lawton and Patricia Winfrey of Arlington, Texas; seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; other relatives and friends.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. John Missionary Baptist Church with the Rev. Tyrone T. Turner Jr. officiating. Burial with military honors will follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens under the direction of Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home.

An online guest book and sympathy cards are available at grayfuneral.com.