Jake Rice Jr., 78, of Manila, died Wednesday, March 24, 2004, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born in Manila, he was the son of the late Jake and Melinda Robbins Rice and had been a lifelong Manila resident. He was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of World War II and a retired commercial fisherman and owner/operator of Rice's Auto and Body Shop in Manila.

He is survived by his wife, Bernice Morgan Rice, of the home; a son, Jake "Bo" Rice III of Jonesboro; two daughters, Julie Ann Still of Bryant and Tammy Michelle Johnson of Manila; a sister, Anna Mae Jackson, of West Plains, Mo.; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by four brothers and three sisters.

The funeral was held at 2 p.m. Friday at the Howard Funeral Chapel in Manila with Rev. Ferrel Duffel and Rev. Don Phillips officiating. Burial was in the Manila Cemetery.

Active pallbearers were Chris Still, David Nick Nichols, Jeremy Still, Dale Pouge, Jimmy Adams and Michael White.

Honorary pallbearers were Bob Farmer, Frank Hamilton, Buddy Miller, Rueben Davis, Lowell Polston, Tommy Dillon, Elton Still and Dean Cherry.