Services for Minister Robert L. Speaks Sr., 78, of Natchez, who died Friday, Dec. 8, 2006, in Natchez, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Pilgrim Baptist Church with the Rev. Melvin White officiating.

Burial will follow at Pine Hill Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of George F. West Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m. today at the funeral home and from 10 a.m. until service time Saturday at the church.

Mr. Speaks was born Oct. 29, 1928, in Lake Providence, La., the son of Ruben and Frances Speaks. He was a retired longshoreman. He was a member of Pilgrim Baptist Church. He enjoyed fishing.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret Speaks; and brothers, Joseph Speaks and Theodore Roosevelt Speaks Sr.

Survivors include his children, Patricia Speaks Lyles and her husband, Melvin, Robert L. Speaks Jr. and his wife, Claudette, Ronald Speaks and his wife, Melinda, Kenneth Speaks and his wife, Gwendolyn, Clyde Speaks and his wife, Brenda, Rhonda Speaks Carter and her husband, Ronald, Flenard Speaks and his wife, Narcille and Georgia Roy; brothers, Alex Speaks, Josh Whitley, and Willie Lee Whitley; sisters, Rebecca Bradley, Mary Frances Barnes, and Henrietta Whitley; 24 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

Pallbearers will be friends and family.