Services: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, Cantlon Otterness Funeral Home of Buffalo. Burial, with military honors, in Memorial Gardens of Memory. Visitation: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.
Bro. Donald Lane will officiate. Austin Hicks will provide recordings of “What a Day That Will Be” and “Until Then.” Memorials may be made to the Perry Lane Memorial Fund and left with the funeral home. Online condolences can be made at www.cantlonotterness.com.
Escorts are Tyler Lane, Korey Warren, Trevor Warren, Austin Hicks, Randy Swanigan and Jeff Akins Jr.
Perry Means Lane, 84, was born Sept. 24, 1930, on the family farm near March, the fifth of 11 siblings born to Howard and Norma Lane. He died Nov. 22, 2014.
He attended local schools and graduated from Buffalo High School in 1948. He worked at a local quarry before joining the Navy in 1950. He served on a destroyer and saw action during the Korean War.
While still in military service, he survived a serious car accident that caused spinal cord injuries that left him a quadriplegic. He spent 18 months in the hospital in San Diego, Calif. Eventually, despite medical expectations, he regained the ability to walk.
He returned to Buffalo High School to take refresher classes, where he met Beulah Jackson. Their relationship soon blossomed, and they were married on May 31, 1953. Although doctors had stated that he would never have children, a son was born on March 12, 1954.
He began running the local license bureau during this time, and operated it until they purchased and moved to his family’s farm near March in 1962. While farming, he decided to run for the position of state representative for Dallas County in 1964. He was successfully elected as the last representative to serve in Dallas County exclusively. He was unsuccessful in his re-election bid in 1966, but welcomed a daughter into the world on Nov. 1, 1966.
On Nov.18, 1966, he was run over by a tractor in a farming accident on the family farm, and suffered a broken leg. Once again medical wisdom told him that he would probably never walk again, but before long he was back on his feet, working the farm.
During the late 1960s he was appointed by the Missouri governor to fill the vacant position of presiding commissioner for Dallas County. He served in this capacity for two years, but was again unsuccessful in his re-election bid. Retiring from politics, he focused on running his family farm and raising his children.
He was very involved in several civic organizations. He was a lifetime member of both VFW and the DAV. He served as quartermaster for many years, as well as commander and district commander for the VFW. He was an active member of Union Mound Church serving as a Sunday school teacher for many years. He remained active until his health deteriorated.
After retiring from politics, he continued his farming until he sold the family farm in 1994 and moved to Buffalo where he lived for the remainder of his life.
Survivors include his wife, Beulah, of the home; a son, Terry Lane, Buffalo; a daughter, Lisa Hicks, Long Lane; four brothers: Lyndall Lane, Paul Lane and David Lane, all of Springfield, and Donald Lane, Pleasant Hope; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
