Dennis Calvert Foree, 80, of rural Farber, recently of Jefferson City, Mo., died Nov. 19, 2023, at Citizen’s Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, Mo.
Dennis was born June 22, 1943, in Mexico, Mo. The son of Joseph Milton and Margaret Lucile (Hodges) Foree. He married Ruth Hopke (Weilmuenster) Aug. 5, 1978, at Mt. Olivet Church in Vandalia, Mo.
Survivors include his daughter Jessica Rogers (Michael) of Willard, stepsons William Hopke (Joy) of Belton, and Michael Hopke (Felicia) of Mexico, Sister Penny Gottschalk (Alan) of Jefferson City, Sister-in-law Linda Witte (Terry) of Vandalia, Brother-in-law Bruce Weilmuenster of Vandalia, and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.
His parents, Joe and Margaret Foree, his loving wife, Ruth (Weilmuenster) Foree, sisters Bonnie Kelley, Nancy Chenoweth, his nephew, Andrew Kelley and step-Granddaughter, Alexis Hopke, all died earlier.
Dennis graduated from Van-Far in 1961 and joined the Navy, serving on the USS Blackfin, he spent time in the Philippians, Japan, Australia, and Hawaii. After returning home to Farber, he attended the University of Missouri-Columbia graduating in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science.
Dennis farmed with his dad and worked on his own farm. In-between farming, he got his CDL and started driving over the road for Pete Oliver Trucking out of Mexico, Mo. While driving for Oliver he was one of the top drivers for overall miles driven. When he worked with Gayle Stuart, he delivered eggs to Iowa and could boast that no eggs were broken during his routes.
When it was a slow season, Dennis would fill in as a substitute teacher at the area schools where he enjoyed getting to know the kids in the classes he was watching.
He retired from MFA in Mexico where he delivered feed to local farmers and worked on the yard. If you needed to know what field to deliver to, he knew just where to go no matter how far off the beaten path it was. He had a knack for knowing about any road around Farber and surrounding areas and who lived where.
Dennis was an avid reader and would often go to both the Farber and Vandalia Branches on the weekends when he was not working. He enjoyed visiting with friends at Jones Used Cars and getting his haircut at the Vandalia Barbershop where the tall tales were rampant and always a good laugh to be had.
Dennis also enjoyed a cold beer with family and friends and was not one to say no to a free beer. It was a family joke that Dennis’ favorite beer was “OPB”- Other People’s Beer.”
Dennis was interested in family history and amassed a sizable collection of family records on the Foree and Hodges families. He put together a table sized handwritten family tree dating back to 1699 when the first Foree descendent came over.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the Farber Community Building from 1 to 3 p.m. on Dec. 9. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Farber Volunteer Fire Department, Baptist Homes Tri-County, or the Mexico-Audrain County Library.