Junior C. 'Butch' Friend (Seymour)'s Obituary
Beloved son, adored brother, favorite uncle and great-uncle, Junior ‘Butch’ Friend peacefully departed this life April 19, 2021, at the age of seventy-six, in Glenwood Healthcare in Seymour, Missouri, where he had been a much-loved resident for the last ten years.
One of thirteen children born to Homer Henry and Helen L. (Tindle) Friend, he was born Junior Coy Friend on January 29, 1945, in Springfield, Missouri. He was raised and lived in the Springfield area until 1983, when he followed family to Seymour. He was affectionately known to all as ‘Butch’ and he never met a stranger. If you lived in Seymour, you knew Butch. He was known as a super friendly guy with a good sense of humor. He was a jokester and a goofball and liked to cut-up with family, especially nieces and nephews. Though Butch never married or had children of his own, he was a real father figure to many of his nieces and nephews. He was a devoted uncle and considered them all his kids; his nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews were his pride and joy, and he was very much a part of their lives. Butch especially loved spending the holidays with family. Butch worked as general labor and did odd jobs most of his years. He mowed countless yards in his lifetime. He enjoyed going to country outlets, yard sales and flea markets. When he was able, his favorite pastime was riding his bike. In addition to his parents, Butch was preceded in death by ten siblings, Rosie Ann Liles and husband Walter, Ruby Mae McReynolds and husband Gene, William Ray Friend and wife Melba, Lois Grace Myers and husband Vollie, Dorothy Friend, Mary Margaret Merrel and husband Gene, and infants, Howard Eugene, Mary Marie, Rosie, and Julie; brother-in-law Harold Harris, and sister-in-law Norma Friend; and great-nephew Mason Lee. Butch leaves behind his dear baby sister Flora Elizabeth Harris of Seymour, and his loyal older brother Clarence Gabriel Friend of Galesburg, Kansas; all of his ‘kids’ – nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews whom he loved dearly, and they loved him back; a caring staff of family at Glenwood Healthcare; and many more friends.
Visitation is Friday afternoon, April 23, 2021, from 4 PM - 6 PM, at Holman-Howe Funeral Home in Seymour. Funeral services are Saturday, April 24, 2021, at 10 AM, in the funeral home. Burial will follow in Seymour Masonic Cemetery.
Memorials may be left to the family at the funeral home.
Arrangements are under the direction of Holman-Howe Funeral Home of Seymour.
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