William E Buffington Sr.

The family respectfully requests donations be made to the Summers Cemetery in lieu of flowers and they may be left at the funeral home.

William (Bill) Earl Buffington Sr., the son of William Buffington and Mary Troth Wolfer, was born January 22, 1925, at Farmington, Illinois, and passed away at Springfield, Missouri, on February 18, 2020, making his age 95 years and 26 days.

Bill was united in marriage to Margaret Willett, and to this union three children were born, William, Linda, and Charles. Bill was later married to Leola J. Schoonover, and added Lee’s three children, Liddell, Belinda Sue, and Steve, to the family. In 1980, Bill and Leola came to Missouri from Illinois and made their home in Eminence.

Bill was a member of the Jack’s Fork Country Church and loved his worship family very much.

A great interest of Bill’s was the radio.  As a boy and a member of our “greatest generation”, blessed with creativity and ingenuity, he made a crystal radio in a time without the benefit of the internet and youtube. Bill loved to use his homemade radio to listen  to the Chicago station while he was in bed at night.

A WWII veteran, Bill was proud of his service to our country. He enlisted in the United States Army and he attained the rank of Sergeant in the Air Force Reserves. His previous interest and love of the radio was realized when he became a radio man in WWII. He flew in  B-29’s, and as part of his training, he learned to fly and land small aircraft. Bill was a patriot and proudly attended military events in the community. He was honored to be a 50 year member of the American Legion, Post 0509.

After his military service, Bill worked for Coca Cola, repairing soda machines, and later owned a Standard Service Station in Yates City, Illinois. He had a great love for cars and often owned several at a time, caring for them meticulously. He and his wife, Lee, loved to car shop and often set out for the day to shop car lots for a future new vehicle.

Throughout his life, Bill had an industrious nature. He loved adventure, working, and spending time with family and friends. He enjoyed the outdoors and spent time gardening, fishing and trapping, and loved working outdoors with his friends at the National Park Service, where he worked until his retirement at the age of 82. He was a devoted family man and looked forward to spending time with his wife, children, and grands, great-grands, and great-great-grandchildren.

Bill and Lee remained inseparable until her death in March 2019.

In August 2019, Bill made his home at Birch Tree Place in Birch Tree, MO, and became known for his fun sense of humor and his energy. A great joy for Bill was being able to have his sweet companion, Sheba, join him at his new residence.

Bill is preceded in death by his parents, Mary Wolfer and William Buffington, his grandparents, Harry and Stella Troth, uncle and aunt, Bernard and Wanda Troth, his beloved wife of 49 years, Leola Buffington, children, Steven L. Coates and Belinda Sue Keeling, and  great-granddaughter, Megan Burum.

He is survived by his daughter, Linda Mucha and husband, Tom, Westmont, IL, sons, Bill Buffington Jr and wife Faye, Lakeview, CO, and Charles Buffington and wife, Laurie, Rolla, MO, daughter, Liddell Swanson and husband, Lloyd, Eminence, MO, son-in-law, Larry Keeling, Eminence, MO, grandchildren, Chris Buffington, John and Andrew Mucha, Morgan and Grace Buffington, Joe, Ethan, and Melissa Green, Sarah Keeling, Danielle Huddleston, Craig DeJaynes, Kimberly Hodge, Colby Swanson, Amy Coates, and Stacy Kavanagh,  18 great-grandchildren, and 5 great-great-grandchildren.

Bill dearly loved his family and, in return, was greatly loved by the community of friends and relatives he leaves behind.