John Davis Vogel, 80, of Smithton, died Sunday, January 2, 2005, at his home.
He was born October 26, 1924, in Climax Springs, son of Peter and Lena Kumpf
Vogel. On December 23, 1960, at Maple Hill Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Kan, he was married to Lettie Corneal Curtright, who survives of the home.
Mr. Vogel was an Air Corps veteran of World War II, serving in the South Pacific
as a high speed radio operator. After being discharged in February 1946, he went to Northern California and worked for a lumber company. He returned to Missouri in 1951 and started college at Central Missouri State University. He earned a bachelors of science degree in education in 1952 and a masters of education degree in 1955. He taught elementary school for one year in Lee’s Summit, two years in Muncie, Kan., and one year at Horace Mann in Sedalia. He was principal for seven years at Jefferson Elementary School in Sedalia, and twenty-one years at Washington Elementary School in Sedalia.
He was a park ranger for the Corps of Engineers at Harry S. Truman State Park
visitor’s center during the summers from 1985-1990. He was a Red Cross volunteer at Bothwell Regional Health Center for fifteen years. He had resided on his farm in Smithton since 1962.
Also surviving are a sister, Virginia Smith, of Kingwood, Texas; a brother, Philip
Vogel, of Overland Park, Kan.; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, January 8, 2005, at First Christian Church, with the Revs. Leland Curtright, Stewart Curtright and Dan Owsley officiating.
Friends may sign the guest register from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Heckart/Gillespie Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to Bothwell Hospice,
American Cancer Society or First Christian Church.
