Dallas Vernon, Jr. (Lebanon)'s Obituary
On March 20th of 1922, a baby boy was born in the Vernon homestead, twelve miles northwest of Lebanon, Missouri. Dallas and Beulah Tribble Vernon welcomed their third son and named him Dallas Vernon, Jr. He and his two older brothers, three year-old J.P. and one-and-a-half year old handicapped Wardy, kept their parents very busy.
They called Dallas, Jr. “Junior”, until his teen years, when his mother decided he should be called Dallas. That didn’t make his dad too happy! He said, “That’s my name!” But his mother won out. Junior was the baby of the family for five years until the twins, Billy and Bobby, came along. Two years later, his brother B.J. made his appearance, and then his brother Donnie was born when Junior was eleven.
Junior became a leader with his younger brothers. He taught them to play basketball, and they went on great adventures exploring the countryside. His mother said about him, “He was quite a worker and manager. He could surely manage the other boys. Junior would just say to his little brothers, ‘Now boys, let’s do so and so,’ and the boys would work like Trojans.
Junior and his brother J.P. traveled Route 66 to California and worked there a couple of years, until Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941; then they returned home. Back at the home place, there were two new teachers at his old country school, where his brothers still attended. His Aunt Pearl asked Dallas, Jr. to bring Mabel Fike and her sister, Leola, to a Fuller Brush Party. Dallas and Mabel fell in love.
He volunteered for the Army Air Corps, and was stationed at Oxford, California. Mabel traveled by train to meet him, where they were married by the Air Base Chaplain on February 3, 1944.
After training and testing, he was offered the opportunity to become a pilot, and reluctantly his parents gave their consent. Dallas, Jr. learned to fly on a Stearman Biplane, then on the BT-13, the UC-78, B-25 and a B-26. As a child he watched planes fly over, then he made parts for planes in California, and now he was learning to pilot them! In 1941, he became a cadet, graduating alongside two future aviation giants – Chuck Yeager, the first test pilot to break the sound barrier, and John Glenn, the first astronaut to orbit the earth!
He was scheduled to be shipped to fly on a dangerous mission in an A-26 to go strafing and skip-bombing over Japan, but instead of going on that mission, they dropped the atomic bombs in Japan, and the war was ended! He was discharged and got to return home! Praise God!
After his time in the service, he and Mabel decided to make their home in Lebanon, building their house that eventually was filled with little girls – Sue, Carol Ann, Judy, Beth and Terrie. They started going regularly to Phillipsburg Christian Church, where he began learning so much, and he became an Elder. He and Mabel made the decision that if they had church services, they would be there. On their way to church, he and Mabel would often talk about the need for an independent Christian church in Lebanon.
Dallas, Jr. started talking to key people in the community, including his cousin, Roger Tribble, to see if he would be interested in becoming the preacher, and he responded positively. His brothers, Bill, Bob, B.J. and Don also wanted to help. Many area church leaders were interested in this venture. The very first planning meeting was a carry-in dinner at Dallas, Jr. and Mabel’s house on December 18, 1958.
A new church was born, Southern Heights Christian Church, on May 3, 1959. Here Dallas served as an Elder, Bible school teacher, communion meditation giver, musician, often singing with his daughters, and welcomed each person. Southern Heights is the place he worshiped, learned, grew, and served the Lord faithfully for the last 61 years.
After the war, he started working at Detroit Tool. He was hired as a draftsman, but his job also included sweeping the floor. He rose in the company and began flying again, this time not as the pilot, but in the Detroit Tool plane, flying across the country every week to meet with customers.
He was dedicated not just to get jobs to help the family, but to help everyone at Detroit Tool to take care of their families too! He was promoted in the company from draftsman to Drafting Manager to Vice-President, to President of Detroit Tool, which at that time had 500 employees. Yes, he went from sweeping the floors to the president’s office! He did his best at every job he had, leading was natural to him, a gift from God.
Dallas and Mabel loved each other dearly and enjoyed twenty-eight years of marriage, but deep sadness came when Mabel was diagnosed with cancer that took her life in June of 1971.
By this time, Sue was teaching in Germany, Carol and Judy were married, and Beth was soon in college. Dallas, Jr. and eleven-year-old, Terrie, were home alone much of the time, struggling with the loss. Instead of wonderfully cooked meals, now it was a warmed up stew from a can. Terrie had her one desk at Detroit Tool, where she came every day after school. They managed. Often they went to stay with family on weekends. It was a sad time.
In her last days, Mabel had told him that God had someone for him after she was gone, and that she could almost see her. After deep grieving, Dallas decided to live again and decided to start dating. His brother, Bill and sister-in-law, Joy, had helped Pat Heard Maples, a young widow, and introduced the two. Dallas and Pat met and fell in love. Before he proposed to her, he asked each of his daughters, his mother, and our mother’s mother for their opinion, and all gave their blessings, and they got married!
Pat had a six-year-old daughter, Pam, which later was adopted by Dallas. Three years later, Dallas and Pat welcomed another baby, Sara, to the family. Dallas, Jr. came from seven boys and he had seven girls! It is a ‘yours, mine, and ours’ family that has become one unit working in precious harmony with God at the center, and love and kindness flowing. Dallas adored his family, and they loved him dearly.
His two weeks of vacation each year yielded fabulous memories as he led the family to explore almost all of the fifty United States. He was an engineer at work and at home – an engineer of fun!
In 1976, health issues encouraged him to run a new race. He began jogging four miles a day for seven days a week! Later, he cut it down to three miles a day, for six days a week. At ninety years of age, he was still walking two miles a day! He figured he had traveled over 28,000 miles by foot – which is further than the distance around the world!
Heartfelt prayers before meals have always been the norm at the Vernon house. Every morning after breakfast, he would open his Bible and read a passage to any of us at his table. It continues to be a precious blessing for the day.
His family grew up singing together in the car, at home, and at church. All through their lives, when they are together, they sing and Daddy would start the song before the prayer for the meal. So as he took his last breaths, we were singing around his bed.
He received community awards including Lebanon School Board honoring his Board membership 1966-1970 and Board President 1969-1970, and Wall of Honor with a 2006 Community Achievement Award.
Dallas, Jr. was a strong role model, and many people recognized him as their hero. His legacy is of Christian conviction and leadership, the ability to see a need and knowing how to fill it, along with the gift of giving. He was a successful man with much wisdom and great love.
Dallas, Jr. went to home to be with Jesus on November 22, 2020, surrounded by his family.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Dallas and Beulah (Tribble) Vernon; three brothers, J. P., Ward, and B. J. Vernon; his first wife, Mabel (Fike) Vernon; and a great-grandchild, Dylan Kelly.
Dallas, Jr. is survived by his wife, Patricia (Heard) Vernon; seven daughters and seven son-in-laws, Sue and Col. Robert Pike, Carol and Dr. Ken Bryant, Judy and Gary Gilmore, Beth and Joe Milan, Terrie and Ted Sanchez, Pam and Lance Tamerius, and Sara and Ryan Nelson; his grandchildren include Scott and Kimberly Bryant, Aaron and Ami Bryant, Mark and Laurel Bryant, Kevin and Lauren Bryant, Kari and Allen Bergeron, Stephanie and Jeff Rickert, Amy and Peter Lannigan, Katie and Wayne Brown, Joseph Dallas and Erin Milan, Zackery Milan, Michael and Carol Jean Sanchez, Dallas Sanchez, Emily Sanchez, Creighton and Jennie Tamerius, Alyssa and Chase Marcus, Garret and Hannah Tamerius, Noah Tamerius, Maleea Tamerius, Reed Nelson, Ashton Nelson, Landis Nelson, and Bennett Dallas Nelson; three brothers, Bill Vernon, Bob Vernon, and Don Vernon; a number of nieces and nephews; as well as a host of other relatives and friends.
His favorite scripture, along with John 3:16, tells the story of his life. “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love (I Corinthians 13:13 NKJV).”
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be left at the funeral home to Show-Me Christian Youth Home or Shiloh Christian Children’s Ranch.
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