W.L. Pelot, D.V.M., 88, of Joplin, formerly of Saline County, died Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004, in Joplin.

Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27, in Joplin.

Born May 23, 1916, in Blackburn, he was the son of the late H.J. Pelot and Lulu Hopkins Pelot. Upon graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in veterinary medicine, he and his wife, Ruth Carlton Pelot, who survives of the home, made their home in Joplin and operated a small animal veterinary clinic. He was a food inspector for the U.S. Army at Amarillo, Texas, during the Korean Conflict. He returned to Joplin after the war and worked as a poultry inspector for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a processing plant.

Additional survivors include one daughter, Patsy Chew of Grove, Okla.; one sister, Catherine Pelot Curtis of Tulsa, Okla.; two grandsons; and several nieces and nephews.

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