Earl Vincent Fraley, 69, of Henderson, Kentucky, passed away at 9:15 a.m. Sunday, December 11, 2016, after a long illness.

He was a retired Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force having served in the Vietnam War.  After retiring from the military, Earl was an instructor in Aviation Physiology at the University of North Dakota for 10 years and then moved to Henderson where he worked at Methodist Hospital in the Sleep Lab.  Earl enjoyed working with his hands, building decks, and spending time with his children and grandchildren.  He was also a Kentucky Colonel.  He was a member of Zion Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by one son, Leland Russell Fraley; his biological parents, Earl Nearl Fraley and Mary Runyon Fraley Fiore; his foster parents, George Russell Carroll and Beulah Carroll; four sisters, Helen Turner, Betty Medley, Aretta Sue Fraley, and Shirley Welch; two brothers, Russell Fraley who died in childhood and Benjamin Richard Fraley; one half-brother, Frank Edwin Fiore; and two foster sisters, Hattie Mae Carroll and Caroline Faye Howell.

Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Paula Sue Helen Jones Fraley; one daughter, Valerie Jean Fraley Garcia and her husband, Tim, of Albuquerque, New Mexico; one son, Thomas Earl Fraley and his wife, Vanessa, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; two stepdaughters, Stephanie Suzanne Guyer Lykins and her husband, Tracy, and Chrystal Deann Guyer Price and her husband, Patrick, both of Henderson, Kentucky; one sister, Adeline McNeeley; one half-sister, Consetta Rose Fiore Basin; one foster sister, Betty Rhule; two brothers, Dennis Neal Fraley and Brandon "Bo" Fraley; one half-brother, John Samuel Fiore; one foster brother, Earl Owens; 13 grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Rudy-Rowland Funeral Home.  The Reverend Rick O'Daniel will officiate.  Full military rites will be performed by American Legion Worsham Post No. 40.  Burial will be in Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Visitation will be 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and until service time Thursday at the funeral home.