JERRY DEAN TAFFNER

LAMAR- Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Konantz Warden Funeral Home for Jerry Dean Taffner, 78, Lamar, who died Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.

A visitation will be held from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, at the funeral home.

Online condolences may be sent to www.konantzwarden.com.

Survivors include his wife, Karen, of the home; daughter, Angie Taffner, Lamar and fiancé Lorne Brown, Nevada, Mo.; grandchildren, Dalton Schlichting and Megan Schlichting and fiancé PJ Junker, Lamar and one sister Peggy Jo Gilkey and husband Joe, Nevada, Mo.; brothers and sisters-in-law, Carolyn Mae Taffner, Lamar, Linda Owen and husband Roy, Lamar, Roger Hensley and wife Vicki, Nevada, Mo., Susan Cheshire, Springfield and Pam Medlin and husband Jesse, Lamar and several cousins, nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by a brother Lester Taffner.

Mr. Taffner was born Aug. 25, 1945, in Lamar, to Fern (Walker) and Carl Taffner from rural Jasper. He attended Dorris Valley Country School for grades 1-8 and attended Lamar High School, graduating in 1963. He worked for Leroy and Margaret Swartz on their chicken farm. After high school he worked for Frank Horton Engineering; later Finley Engineering Co., retiring in 2009. He enjoyed several summers with uncles and cousins in Colorado. He loved quail and deer hunting, and farming. He met Karen Hensley at church and she became his wife on December 20, 1973. A few years later Angie became her Daddy's pride and joy.

Mr. Taffner always took his family to church and served as a deacon. Going for a “spin” around the county, with Angie, usually ended with a stop for ice cream. He loved spending time with his grandkids Megan and Dalton.