James E. ‘Jim’ Tate, 77, Ramsey and Shelbyville

James E. “Jim” Tate, 77, of Ramsey and Shelbyville, died at 6:20 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Ramsey, with the Revs. Kenneth Hall and Glenn Sparks officiating. Burial will be in Fairlawn Cemetery, Vandalia. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Monday at Miller Funeral Home in Ramsey and one hour before services on Tuesday at the church. Memorials: First Baptist Church Building Fund or Shriners’ Hospital for Children.

Mr. Tate was born on April 25, 1931, in Fayette County, the son of John and Mildred Lay Tate. He married Mary Phyllis Lace on Sept. 15, 1950, in Mt. Vernon; she died on July 18, 2002. He married Shirley Dowler Largent on June 5, 2005.

He was a heavy equipment operator and farmer, a member of First Baptist Church in Ramsey, Oconee Masonic Lodge, Ainad Shrine Temple of East St. Louis, Employers’ and Operating Engineers’ Local No. 520 of Granite City, Fayette County Farm Bureau and Fayette County Civil Defense (now known as Emergency Management Agency), a founding member of the Ramsey Saddle Club, and former member and chief of Ramsey Volunteer Fire Department.

He is survived by his wife, of Shelbyville; daughter, LaDonna and her husband John Droney of Visalia, Calif.; stepsons, Gary Largent and his wife Lori of Fenton, Mo., and David Largent and his wife Cindy of Midlothian, Texas; stepdaughters, Gini and her husband David Largent of Decatur, and Diane and her husband Mike Winterboer of Lebanon, Ore; grandchildren, Crista, Cheyenne, Madison and Courtney; and stepgrandchildren, Daniel, Stephanie, Adam, Jessica, Samuel and Stephen.

He was preceded in death by his first wife and a brother, John “Lay” Tate.