SICILY ISLAND &045; Friends described H.C. Peck Sr. as a &uot;good man&uot; who liked people and would do anything to help someone.

Peck, 84, who died Saturday, Jan. 24, was a lifelong resident of Sicily Island. And he did many things throughout his life.

He was a businessman, serving as a banker and past president of the bank his father and others founded, Sicily Island State Bank, and on the board of directors for Concordia Bank and Trust Co. from the 1960s to the 1990s.

He also was a contractor, a cattleman and a farmer. Peck served on the prison enterprise board for 58 years and as chairman for many years. Peck was a charter member and past president of the Sicily Island Rotary Club.

Willie Smith, past chairman of the Concordia Bank and Trust board, is one of Peck’s honorary pallbearers and was a close friend to him, also having served on the bank board with him.

Smith said he has known Peck’s family all of his life and they were &uot;good people.&uot;

&uot;I just remember him as being a good friend, a loyal friend,&uot; Smith said. &uot;They’ve lost a very valuable member of their community.&uot;

Travis Gore, past president of the board and also a close friend and honorary pallbearer said he was a &uot;super guy.&uot;

Having known each other about 50 years, &uot;we counted ourselves as kinfolks,&uot; Gore said.

&uot;If he could help some people he did,&uot; Gore said. &uot;He believed in helping the other fellow.

&uot;Losing him is like losing a member of family to us.&uot;