Dorman Agee (Bolivar)'s Obituary
Dorman Kyle Agee was born in Halfway, Missouri on January 16, 1931 to Marlyn and Velma (Lane) Agee. He departed this life at 92 years old on July 16, 2023, surrounded by his favorite people.
He graduated from Halfway High School in 1949. He was Class President and Captain of the Varsity Basketball Team.
Dorman was a Korean War Veteran. He joined the United States Air Force by choice in January of 1951, instead of waiting to be drafted. His basic training was in San Antonio, TX at Lackland Air Force Base. After 12 weeks, he was sent to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, TX for B-29 school, where he was trained to work on the B-29 Bomber Aircraft - which carried the atomic bomb in the Korean War. After training, he was sent to New York where he boarded a ship and was sent to Burtonwood Air Force Base in Warrington, England - about 75 miles from London.
He was in the 7559th Aircraft Repair Squadron and worked on B-29 Bombers & Jet Fighters. He was there until the summer of 1954.
After being discharged from the Air Force, he drove his red 1953 MG around Europe for 3 weeks. Among his many stops were Barcelona, Spain, Paris, France, Le Mans, France, and Munich, Germany. He loved to share stories of his once-in-a-lifetime trip with anyone he could.
After returning home, he attended refrigeration technical school in Kansas City, MO from 1954-1956. He then went to work and started his lifelong passion of refrigeration (and a fixer of all things, truly).
He married the love of his life, Wanda Lee Cribbs, on August 30, 1957. 9 years later, their daughter, Leigh Ann, brought immense joy into their life.
Dorman spent many holidays and weekends at the lake with family. He was the ultimate boat driver pulling all the cousins on tubes until they couldn’t hold on anymore. He looked forward to projects at the Lake House filling his summers with siding that needed scrubbed and unwinding ski rope out of the Seadoo engine.
Dorman was known around Southwest Missouri (and sometimes further) as the ‘Refrigerator Repair Man’. He never turned away a chance to fix a “box” (his words), no mater how challenging. This included a large volume of yellowed, molded, putrid boxes that Leigh Ann, Lauren and Corbin were volunteered to smell to ensure they were ready for sale.
His refrigeration repair was more of a ministry to him than a business. He gifted many appliances to those in need and would repair at no cost for single moms and those who were struggling.
In 2004, Dorman was given 90 days to live after a stage 4 diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. After being covered in prayer by hundreds of family and friends, not only did the Lord work miraculously by completely healing him, but the 3 vertebrae that had disintegrated in his neck completely reformed.
He was known as Papa to his grandkids. He loved his time with them more than anything. He and Lauren would spend hours in the barn tinkering and solving life’s problems. He never tired of watching Corbin play basketball and taking him on service calls. He loved playing pretty much anything with Christian and Cayden. Whether it was tag, hide and go seek, checkers, or just watching tv, they were always having a blast. They had such a special bond.
Dorman was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Wanda; his parents, Marlyn and Velma Agee; his sister and brother-in-law, WA and Dorene Gunn; and brother-in-law, Harold Clark; brothers-in-law, David Cribbs, Darrol Cribbs and wife, Judy; sisters-in-law, Carrol Stepp and Darlene Allen.
He is survived by his daughter, Leigh Ann Medley, and husband, Chuck; granddaughter, Lauren Medley, and great-grandsons, Christian and Cayden; grandson, Corbin Medley, and wife, Melissa; his beloved barn buddy, Oliver; his sister, Shirley (Boots) Clark; sister-in-law, Betty Cribbs; brother-in-law, Darrell (Diz) Stepp; and a host of nieces and nephews (and greats) who he loved dearly.
Funeral services for Dorman will be 11:00 AM Thursday, July 20, 2023 at James River South Church Clark Chapel. Visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the Church. Burial will take place in the Greenwood Cemetery in Bolivar, MO.
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