Services were held at 1 p.m. Friday at Konantz Warden Funeral Home in Lamar for Darrell Duwane Strong, 47, Liberal, who passed away Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, surrounded by his family at Mercy Hospital in Joplin, following a short illness.
Visitation was held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Riverside Cowboy Church in Nevada, Missouri., in the care of Roger Beach, pastor.
The obituary may be viewed and condolences sent at www.konantzwarden.com.
Survivors include his parents, Willis and Billy Strong; his sister, Carol Strong, two nieces, Isabella and Victoria and friend, Lori Beckwith; area cousins, Larry and Lynetta Stanley, and Royce and Debra Anderson of Jerico Springs, Curtis and Winniford Burns of Nevada, Missouri, John and Doneta Dodwell of Anderson, South Dakota, and Kitty Oberg of Joplin; an aunt, Shirley Fletcher of Joplin; and several other cousins and friends.
Darrell was born Oct. 3, 1975, in Fort Scott, to Willis and Billy (Albrecht) Strong. He moved with his parents and sister to Liberal when he was six weeks old. He grew up in The Liberal News that his parents owned. He attended Liberal Elementary and High School, graduating in 1994. He began working for Medlin-Frieden following high school, learning the flooring trade that included carpet, vinyl, and tile. He also attended flooring school in Kansas City while in his 20s. He later attended Crowder College and graduated with an associate's degree in 2008.
He worked for Berry-Moore in Lamar as a carpet layer until they closed. When KD's opened, he went back to the flooring trade and continued working there until shortly before being hospitalized.
Darrell had several hobbies, including woodworking, he could make anything he wanted, and he raised and owned horses. His first horse, Midnight, that he got at age 19 is still living. He raised her and broke her to ride, and took her on trail rides. He has had other horses over the years, and there are four horses currently at his farm.
He purchased a 20-acre farm in 1999 and kept his horses there. The farm has several acres of hay ground, and he purchased hay equipment and baled his own hay. He baled his hay this year and didn't feel good, but he wouldn't let on that it tired him out.
This past year he started making spurs and had finished about three pairs and had engraved one pair.
For the past 12 years, he attended Riverside Cowboy Church – Rodeo Bible Camp, that was held each June. He even made roping calves for the kids to rope and worked with them. He enjoyed this and could remember most of the names of the kids that attended.
He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Liberal and had taught Sunday school, cleaned the church since he was a teenager, and mowed the churchyard for many years. In 2018 he laid the new carpet in the church sanctuary.
