Joe Kem

Published 12:00 am Monday, August 10, 2009

FRANKLIN — Joe Kem, 79, of Franklin died at 6:25 a.m. Aug. 9, 2009, at the Hospice Center in Bowling Green.

The Sikeston, Mo., native was a retired insurance salesman and a member of First Baptist Church and the Reflections Choir. He was a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Eastwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Blackjack Baptist Church in Simpson County and First Baptist Church. He served as a treasurer and was on the Board of Directors of the Good Samaritan. He was a son of the late Louis Kem and Rosa Bohannon Kem. He was preceded in death by a brother, Randolph Kem; and two sisters, Zelma Duncan and Louise Chaney.

Funeral is at 11 a.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Franklin, with burial in Blackjack Cemetery in Simpson County. Visitation is from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and from 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at Booker-Gilbert Funeral Home and continues at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the church.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to Hospice of Southern Kentucky , 5872 Scottsville Road, Bowling Green, KY 42104; First Baptist Church, 303 E. Cedar St., Franklin, KY 42134; or Good Samaritan, 111 S. Main St., Franklin, KY 42134.

Online condolences may be made at www.bookergilbertfh.com.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Ann Kem; four daughters, Carol Jane Kem of Atlanta, Dr. Judy Kem of Winston-Salem, N.C., Janet Ausbrooks and her husband, Henry, and Joe Ann Gary and her husband, Greg, all of Bowling Green; a son, Dr. Jack Kem and his wife, Kathy, of Leavenworth, Kan.; two brothers, Edsel Kem of Shawnee, Kan., and L.R. Kem of Pinehurst, N.C.; 11 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.