Marvin O. Looney

1927 - 2025

Funeral services for Dr. Marvin O. Looney, 97, of Pontiac, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, at the First Christian Church in Gainesville, Mo. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until service time at the church.

Dr. Looney, known as Marv to his friends, died Sept. 29 at Hospice House in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

He was born Nov. 9, 1927, near Gainesville, the 10th child of Clyde and Cora Luna Looney. He walked to the Gainesville school then located where today's post office stands, all 12 years, sometimes taking a trail over the hill east of the Gainesville Square when Lick Creek was too high to cross except at what is now the Barney Douglas Bridge.

After Marv graduated from Gainesville High School in 1945, his dad signed the papers so he could enlist in the U.S. Navy when he was only 17. He signed up for the "duration of the emergency" during World War II. Before the war ended, four of the Looney brothers would serve in the military simultaneously.

After his honorable discharge in 1946, he enrolled in what is now Missouri State University on the GI bill. To visit his family back home, he rode the bus when he had enough money for a ticket and hitchhiked when he didn't. His friend, Rex Johnson, often accompanied him.

As soon as he was eligible to teach, in 1949, he began teaching at Gainesville High School - algebra, trig, geometry and P.E. while also coaching both boys and girls basketball - and returned to Springfield in the summer to finish his bachelor's degree in 1950.

In 1950 in California, he met Delores Robbins, an Ozark County girl known as Dorsey, while he was visiting relatives there. Dorsey's parents, San and Gertie Robbins, had moved their family from Ozark County to California during the Depression and ended up living next door to another Ozark Countian, Marv's brother, Harley Looney.

Marv and Dorsey were married on July 9, 1951, in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Marv liked to say he promised Dorsey that, if she would marry him, he'd take her on a cruise for their honeymoon. Then, after they married in Mountain Home he made good on his honeymoon promise.

"I drove her home by way of the ferry across Lake Norfork," he would say.

He continued teaching at Gainesville. To supplement his meager teacher's salary, Marv and Dorsey spent their summers working in Wichita, Kan. - he was a milkman and siding salesman, and she worked in the aircraft factory. Next they moved to Forsyth. Mo., where Marv taught math and P.E. and also coached basketball. After a couple of years in Forsyth, he and Dorsey moved back to Gainesville at the invitation of school superintendent Mearle Luna so that Marv could resume teaching there. They also bought the Rod and Gun Resort, a small motel on Pontiac Road.

In 1959, they moved to Fayetteville so Marv could earn a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. He finished his coursework in 1961 and began his career in college administration by serving as an assistant professor at Central Missouri State in Warrensburg, Mo., then as dean of instruction at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Mich. Next, he was president of Mahoning Community College in Youngstown, Ohio, and then served 16 years as president of what is now Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo. His next job was serving as chancellor of the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

After the Alaska job, Marv and Dorsey moved into the vacation home they had built at Pontiac in 1970. He had planned to retire then, but in 1990 he agreed to serve "six months or so" as interim dean of the SMSU-West Plains (now MSU-WP) campus as it was getting organized.

He stayed eight years, moving into the chancellor's role and overseeing significant increases in campus size and student enrollment. He took many trips to Jefferson City, pushing legislators relentlessly to provide greater support for the West Plains campus.

During his tenure at MSU-WP, he also served as president of the West Plains Chamber of Commerce and helped the town raise funds for a new multipurpose civic center. He commuted daily to West Plains from the Looneys' home in Pontiac. By the time he retired for good, the odometer on his vehicle showed 285,000 miles

In addition to his academic degrees, Marv held an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Missouri Western as well as a host of other honors, including the SMSU Outstanding Alumni Award, given to him in 1977. In 2010, he was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award at Gainesville High School as well as the Barney Douglas Ozark County Citizen of the Year Award by the Gainesville Lions Club, in which he was a member. At both Missouri Western in St. Joseph and at MSU-West Plains, buildings are named for Marv.

He was a member of the First Christian Church in Gainesville.

Marv was especially proud of his pioneer heritage as a descendant of William Looney, who is believed to have come to Arkansas from Tennessee in 1802 and whose house is near what is now Pocahontas. Built in 1833, it has been officially recognized as one of the oldest standing structures in the state. Now known as the Looney-French house, the historic home was continuously occupied by Looney and French family members until 2006, when it was donated to Black River Technical College in Pocahontas. Marv and Delores, with their son Bill, toured the house when they attended an event celebrating the donation to the college.

Marv is survived by three sons, Doug Looney and wife Ronee of Pontiac, Bill Looney and wife Sandy of Mountain Home and Dr. Chris Looney and wife Kate of St. Joseph; seven granddaughters, Rachel, Adrienne, Misti, Ashley, Lauren, Hannah and Madison; one step- grandson, Justin; and 13 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Dorsey, who died in 2011; four sisters, Doris Clark, Tessie Adams, Earlene Crisp and Gertie Hickey; and five brothers, Ira, Harley, Bennie, Bonnie and Jim Reed Looney.

Burial will be in the Lilly Ridge Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the First Christian Church and left at the church or the funeral home or mailed to P.O. Box 125, Gainesville, MO 65655.

Arrangements are by Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, Gainesville.