Jim McKinney

Lloyd V. "Jim" McKinney entered the world on Oct. 6, 1935, at Burge Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, the only child of Lloyd "Mac" and Eva Stanfill McKinney.
He married Jane Nichols Whiteaker in 1985, and they had 39 years of fun.
Jim could throw a baseball, and after graduating from high school in 1953, he played minor league ball and was a 1954 teammate of Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog with the McAlester Rockets, a New York Yankees affiliate in the Sooner State League. Jim compiled a record of 29 wins and 17 losses with a 3.39 ERA in his 70-game pitching career with the Rockets, Modesto Reds, Quincy Gems, and Salem Senators.
He attended Drury University and the University of Missouri before serving in the U.S. Army. Jim graduated from Southwest Missouri State in 1961 with a math degree, planning to continue as a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas on his way to becoming a math teacher. Although his career took a different turn, Jim's penchant for numbers persisted for another six decades of Sudoku puzzles and bridge games.
Instead of pursuing math at KU, Jim accepted his father's $200-per-week job offer to work in the family business manufacturing mattresses. Jim never looked back, taking the reigns upon his father's passing in 1971 and running the business for the next 53 years. McKinney Bedding joined the Restonic group in 1977, where Jim later served as president.
He was unafraid of change at the factory and became one of the first to manufacture waterbeds (remember those?). He was a beloved boss, with multiple employees working for him for more than four decades.
A man of routine, Jim could be found working out at the YMCA every morning at 6 o'clock and opening the doors at the factory by 7. He'd work until lunchtime, then return home, reading and watching TV with his wife, Jane, particularly enjoying mysteries on Masterpiece Theatre.
He greatly valued a late-afternoon martini.
He married the late Diane Wilks in 1958. The couple had two children, Scott, born in 1971, and Molly, born in 1972.
He gave back to the community through the Springfield Boys and Girls Club, where he volunteered as a coach and helped launch a popular chili cookoff that raised significant funds for the organization.
On Oct. 29, Jim engaged in the things he loved. He worked out at the Y in the morning, spent time with his wife, Jane, at the office, and later played bridge with Jon. He ate dinner late that afternoon at the Highland Springs Country Club, where he enjoyed his last martini.
Jim leaves behind his wife Jane, his son, Scott McKinney, and daughter, Molly McKinney; stepchildren Janie Whiteaker-Poe, Betsey Streuli, and Gary Shipps; grandchildren Raymond Streuli, Ryland Streuli, Eben Poe, Morgan Ferbert, and Jake Shipps; and great-granddaughter Brodie Ferbert. Jim is preceded in death by his stepdaughters Jennifer Whiteaker in 1992 and Sara Whiteaker in 2013
Visitation will be available from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, November 3, 2024 at the Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home, where a funeral service will be held on Monday, November 4, 2024 at 1 p.m.
Donations in Jim's memory to Lost and Found or Harmony House are preferred in lieu of flowers.
A martini in Jim's honor may be poured on any schedule you find suitable.