Harold Ray Stretch 1933-2018

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 12, 2018, at the First Baptist Church in Gallatin. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday evening, May 11, at the McWilliams Funeral Home in Gallatin where friends may call after 1 p.m. Burial will follow the funeral service at Pilot Grove No. 2 Cemetery near Jamesport. Memorial contributions may be made to the Harold Stretch Memorial Fund or the Pilot Grove #2 Cemetery near Jamesport.

Harold was born on March 3, 1933, at home in the Old Scotland neighborhood near Jameson, the son of Earl and Rose Croy Stretch. Harold attended the Smith one-room rural elementary school in that community.  He was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War, serving from 1954 to 1956.  On Tuesday, Dec. 25, 1956, Harold married Juanita McLey in the Pilot Grove No. 2 Baptist Church, which was connected to the cemetery where Harold will be buried. They had been married 61 years. 

He was a member of First Baptist Church in Bolivar where he and Juanita have made their home since moving from Gallatin in 2005 to be near their son, Leroy, and his family.

Harold was preceded in death by his parents; his brother and sister-in-law, Alvin and Viva; his brother and sister-in-law, Otis and Lois; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Kelly and Romaine Trosper; a brother-in-law, Ivan McLey; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Roy and Cora McLey.

Harold is survived by his wife, Juanita, of the home in Bolivar; his son, Leroy and wife Nancy of Bolivar; his grandsons, Dylan of Highlandville, Ryan and Nycholas, both of Bolivar; his granddaughter, Lynetta, and granson-in-law, Jeremy Couch of Parkville; great-granddaughter, Emmy Stretch of Forsyth; a sister-in-law, Lavonna McLey of Gallatin; and an aunt, Helen Tolen, also of Gallatin.