Obituary - Bob Clemons

Bob Clemons, 75, a veteran of the Vietnam War and resident of Clinton, Missouri, passed away on April 24, 2024. Bob was born March 25, 1949 to Loyd and Faye (Medley) Clemons and graduated from East St. Louis Senior High School before being drafted by the U.S. Army in 1969. 

As a private, first class for the Army, Bob saw action in Vietnam as a gunner, and was recognized for his honorable service with National Defense and Vietnam service medals. Bob didn't speak much about his time in Vietnam or the Army, but was proud to have served and was a member of the Patriot Guard.

After serving, Bob began his 40 year career with Bull Moose Tube Company as a truck driver, retiring in 2011. On March 2, 1974 he married Sharon Reid and settled in Gerald, Missouri where they lived for 27 years. A lifelong Harley Davidson motorcycle lover, Bob rode his many bikes, any chance he could. 

He also enjoyed riding side by sides, tinkering in his shed, rebuilding cars, and spending time with his family and grandchildren. Bob loved to tease and crack jokes, and had a tremendous sense of humor. His witty personality and laughter will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents and sibling, Betty Docksteiner and her husband Alan. In addition to his wife Sharon, he is survived by his sons Nathan Clemons and wife Jo Ellen of Marshfield, Missouri, Grant Clemons and wife Cheryl of Marshfield, Missouri, and daughter Bobbi Jo Striegel and husband Mark of Blue Springs, Missouri as well as seven grandchildren, Rileigh Clemons, Caleb Clemons, Amber Clemons, Calli Clemons, Ty Clemons, Brody Striegel and Ethan Striegel; one sister, Sue Johnson and husband Richard of Gerald, Missouri; two brothers, Tom Clemons and wife Pauline of Ellington, Missouri and Darryl Clemons and wife Stella of Owensville, Missouri; and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held Wednesday May 1st from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. at the Bradley & Hadley Funeral Home, in Clinton Missouri with funeral services beginning at 11:30 a.m. A military honors and committal service will take place at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Higginsville, Missouri, with Patriot Guard provided by Patriot Guard Riders of Mid-Missouri at 2 p.m. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Wounded Warrior Project, which may be left in care of the funeral home.

Stockton man killed in UTV accident

On Saturday April 27th around 5:45 p.m. the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Cedar County along with Cedar County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a fatality crash seven miles south of Stockton on County Road 1801 in rural Cedar County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the accident occurred when a northbound John Deere Gator driven by 50 year old Joey E. Gray of Stockton, Missouri struck a 2011 GMC Sierra driving southbound head-on as they tried to avoid the crash in the same direction.

Mr. Gray was transferred by an ambulance to the Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, where he later died from his injuries at 7:49 p.m. The next of kin have been notified of Gray’s passing.

The driver of the GMC Sierra was not injured in the crash and his truck suffered moderate damage. This is the 26th fatality for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop D in 2024.

View crash report below:

https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/HP68/AccidentDetailsAction?ACC_RPT_NUM=240206675

.

Trumbore commits to Baker University

Butler High School Senior and one of the best basketball players to come out of BHS has announced his future plans: 

"I would like to thank God for the ability to play this sport. I also want to thank my family and friends for all the support through my journey. 

With that being said I am excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Baker University!"

- Butler High School Senior Carter Trumbore 

Sign-Up for the Bates County Sheriff's Office text notification system

The Bates County Sheriff's Office has received a lot of request in regards to signing up for our text notification system. We want to let you know how the system is set up to work. The system has two functions.

 
One is automated texting when the national weather service issues a storm warning. A text is automatically sent for tornado or severe storm WARNING. This means a severe storm or tornado is imminent and you should seek shelter.

 
We do not have the parameters set up for watches because people get numb to the constant text for watches. (Plus people don’t appreciate the constant late night texts…..like Kacey….at 3am)

We also have the ability to sent a text manually. Over the last couple days, we have been fortunate enough that we had the available personnel to share more specific storm information as it comes out in real time. Some of this information is raw and is subject to change in a minutes notice.

 
Our staff does their best to try to get the information out as fast as we can. We have multiple social media platforms that we try to update also but may not be as fast as we would like.

 
We encourage you to have multiple sources for severe weather information. If you would like to sign up for our textcaster please visit our website at www.batescountysheriff.com. Scroll down to the bottom and there is a link you can follow. You should input your information the receive a confirmation code. You will then need to enter the confirmation code and you should be signed up.

 
****remember this is not a guarantee and you should always have more than one source for emergency information***

Update this morning from Osage Valley Electric Cooperative

Update 04/28/24 - Osage Valley Electric Crews continue to work through the night to restore service. Damage from last night’s storm has been extensive and spread throughout or service territory.

The majority of members still affected by outages primarily reside Southeast of Butler, East and West of Rich Hill, North of Hume and Northwest of Clinton.

As the rain continues to fall the linemen will continue to work to restore service as quickly and as safely as possible.

Some flood photos from around Bates County

Several inches of rain have caused some major flooding issues Sunday morning around the area. 

If you have some photos you would like to share with us please email them to bateswire@Hotmail.com and we will add them to this album. 

F Highway between 9001 and CC Highway

AA Highway at the corners north of Adrian

Miami Creek Bridge on 52 West of Butler 

CR NE 7003 near Michael G's Greenhouses

52 East Highway just east of 3 miles corner south of Butler 

Big Rock out on Nursery Street in Butler 

Drexel teen injured in Bates County crash

On Saturday April 27th around 6:08 a.m. the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Bates County along with Bates County Sheriff's Deputies and Bates County EMS responded to a one vehicle accident on CR 14001 in rural Drexel.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the accident occurred when the northbound 2007 Toyota Camry driven by a 16 year old juvenile female from Drexel struck tree debris in the roadway, traveled off the left side of the roadway and struck a fence.

The female sustained moderate injuries and she was transported by Bates County EMS to Children's Mercy Hospital for treatment.

View crash report below:
https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/HP68/AccidentDetailsAction?ACC_RPT_NUM=240205653

Water rescue this morning in rural Butler

Shorty after 5:00 a.m. this morning the Butler Fire Department responded to the area of TT Highway and CR 1001 on a person stuck in a vehicle in flood water.

Fire crews were on scene less then a hour and they were able to get the man out of the vehicle safely.

Always pay attention to creeks, bridges and road conditions after a hard rain. Please turn around and don't drown!