BUSTER MCKINNEY

1927 - 2013

BUSTER MCKINNEY 1927-2013. Melvin Ernest "Buster" McKinney, of Las Vegas and Monroe, Utah, passed away Nov. 7, 2013. He was born Dec. 21, 1927, in Paola, Kan., the third child of Stanley Russell and Pheobe Alice Jones McKinney. His older brother, Gale, died in a accident while still a child, leaving him with an older sister, Margret, and young two brothers, Gene and Larry. He started working with his father at about 10 years old on oil, gas, and water wells all over Kansas. He continued working with him and came out to Las Vegas in 1946 after graduating from high school and a very short time in the U.S. Marine Corps. Later, they were joined by the youngest brother, Larry, and the business became S.R. McKinney and Sons. Buster and Larry bought their dad out in 1964, and the business became McKinney and Sons Well Drilling. He was a member and president of the Nevada Drillers Association, in which he help draft the Nevada water laws. They were the first drillers on the Nevada Test site when it was top secret and no one knew what was out there. They were told one Friday to take off and they would call them. That's when the test site set off the first above ground test. When they returned to their job it was covered with dust and a windshield was broke out of the car left there. They also drilled a hole at the Hoover Dam Corps of Engineers through rock, starting at the top and ending in a tunnel, so they could see the moment the drilling tools came through the roof of the tunnel. They stayed in business over 50 years, until both brothers retired. Buster married Lila Stoker, his high school sweetheart, in 1947 and brought her to Las Vegas with him. They had two children, Dennis, and Cindy. They divorced in 1963. He later married Donna Bennett, but was later separated and then widowed. He never remarried. He played football in high school, was a swimmer, ice skater, water skier and tennis player. He also showed Scotty dogs and was a member and president of the Las Vegas Kennel Club. His greatest love was snow skiing. He belonged to the Las Vegas Ski Club. He always said he had skied every ski area west of the Mississippi, The French Alps, and Bamiff, Canada. He loved his family, numerous friends and life in general. He would say, "Life is short and I plan of having all the fun I can as long as I can." He did and then he died quietly, happy, in no pain, in his sleep in Monroe. What more can we hope for? He will be dearly missed by all who knew him. He is preceded in death by his parents, S.R. and Alice McKinney; stepmother, Catherine McKinney; a son, Dennis McKinney; two brothers, Gale McKinney and Gene McKinney; and a sister, Margret Lewellen. He is survived by his daughter, Cindy and her husband, Gates Nowers of Richfield, Utah; eight grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandson; a brother, Larry and Sally McKinney of Las Vegas; sister, Farla and Tom Schiemier of Twin Falls, Idaho. Graveside services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, in the Mountain View Cemetery in Beaver, Utah, under the care of the Springer Turner Funeral Home of Richfield and Salina, Utah. Immediately following the services, friends and family are invited to El Bambi Cafe in Beaver, to visit and tell stories about Buster. Online guestbook at www.springerturner.com