Lloyd Buehner,III III

Lovingly Written by Family

Lloyd R. "L.R." Buehner, III was born 2/17/1944 in St. Louis, MO to Lloyd R. Buehner, Jr. and Virginia Lucille (Dysart) Buehner. He died on August 12, 2025 at the age of 81. He attended public schools in Illinois, Nebraska and Missouri during the Korean War while his dad was serving in the Navy. The family returned to Joplin in February 1954 in time for L.R. to join the 4th grade class at the recently-opened Eastmorland School where he completed his elementary education. He attended South Junior High School, and graduated from Joplin Senior High School in May 1962. He lettered all four years in football, was active in Band, playing the trombone, from Junior High through High School, and participated in ROTC, Key Club, "J" Club, and Junior Achievement. L.R. was an Eagle Scout, served as a Nature and Conservation Merit Badge Counselor on the staff of Camp Nih-Ka-Ga-Hah near Joplin, and helped move the Scout camp to the Frank Childress Scout Reservation in 1961. He attended the Golden 50-year Boy Scout National Jamboree in Colorado Springs (1960), Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico for several years, and was inducted into the Order of the Arrow. He attended the former Joplin Junior College for two years, where he was active in Student Government, the Republican Club, and the Collegiate Council of the United Nations. He attended the University of Missouri at Columbia for one inglorious fun-filled year. He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a B.S.B.A. degree in 1968 and a Juris Doctor law degree in 1969. He joined the law firm of Buehner and Thomas in Joplin in 1969. In 1972, L.R. and his dad formed the partnership of Buehner and Buehner which lasted thirty years. He was Local Counsel for the Kansas City Southern Railway Company in southwest Missouri for forty years while he maintained a general civil practice. Upon the death of this father in 2002, L.R. continued the solo practice of law and served as Of Counsel with the firm of McKinney and Martin for four years and Of Counsel with the Glades Law Firm for four years. After 46 years of practice, he retired in August 2015. He played softball, flag-football, soccer, was a model railroader, Master Scuba Diver, and enjoyed diving with friends and his wife in the Caribbean. He truly enjoyed helping his clients solve their legal problems, going to Branson, the War Eagle Arts Fair each year, camping, music, Halloween, and attending the premier of each Harry Potter movie as a family affair in wizards' robes to the dismay of his daughters and grandchildren. He was a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Webb City High School Cardinals football team where his Dad played and two of his grandsons (Aidan and Christian Brock) also played. He was a Presbyterian and served on the Board of Trustees for several years at the First Presbyterian Church. He also served as a member of the M.S.S.U. Foundation Board of Directors for several years.

He enjoyed participating for 15 years as a cast member of the floor show at the "Blast From the Past" fundraiser for St. John's Regional Medical Center Foundation in Joplin. He loved movies and musicals and watched his favorites over and over in his retirement. He is legendary, in that he convinced his young grandsons that he was the real Indiana Jones, which they believed for a little while.

He adored his family including four great-grandchildren, three miniature Schnauzers and enjoyed his friends and dining each month with the J.H.S. Class of '62 Dinner Club.

In June 2003, following heart surgery, he was informed by his heart surgeon that he had developed esophageal adenocarcinoma and had a prognosis of a 10% chance to live three years. At M.D. Anderson in Houston, TX, he underwent surgery and survived an additional 22 years, cancer-free.

L.R. married the former Carol Yeakey in 1965. They divorced in 1981, but together raised their two wonderful daughters, Tracy Borgmeyer (Brian) of Joplin and Karen Brock (Darrell) of Webb City, who survive.

L.R. married the former Rosalee Staggs on April 1, 2000 (Yes, April Fool's Day) in Eureka Springs, AR. She survives at the home. Additional survivors include his brother, John Lawrence "Larry" Buehner of Richardson, TX, his honorary brother, Larry Abernathy and his family of Ozark, MO, his great friend and Best Man, Don Swanson and his family of Joplin, grandchildren Alec Eubanks, Lucy Borgmeyer Wear (Mitch), Benjamin Borgmeyer, Aidan Brock, Christian Brock, Cameron Vaile, Jasmine Vaile, and four great-grandchildren, Michael, Clara, Gianna and Agnes Wear, his Aunt Ann Jernigan (Mike) and step-sister Mary Louise Beckstrom (Knute). He was preceded in death by his parents.

If you have read this far in this tribute, you will probably guess that L. R. wrote most of his own obituary. He wrote what was important to him, and we have added what was special to us.

A time of visitation will take place Friday, August 15, 2025 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Parker Mortuary Chapel. A private committal of ashes at a later date at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Webb City, Missouri.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to any charity donor so chooses.

Cremation and funeral arrangements are under the direction of Parker Mortuary, Joplin, Missouri.