Henry Tooley

Henry Taylor Tooley son of Harry James & Mary Elizabeth Ford Tooley, was born February 2, 1940 in Laclede County, MO. He departed this life Wednesday, October 18, 2017 in his home in Edwards, MO., at the age of seventy seven years, eight months, two weeks, and two days old. Henry was preceded in death by both of his parents Harry and Mary Tooley; his son Terry Tooley; his siblings, Rita Tooley, Goldie Jones, Mary Frances Starks, Tom Tooley, Jerry Tooley, Silver Tooley, Wade Tooley, James Tooley, Jim Tooley and Little Joe Tooley. He is survived by his two daughters Jan Schatz and husband Matt of Camdenton, MO; and Juanita Dabbs and husband Steve of Norwood, MO; and son Tyler Ward and Lacey of Edwards, MO; five grandchildren, Dawn Dabbs of Sherwood, AR; Scott Dabbs of Norwood, MO; Jamey Woods of Mansfield, MO; Kerri Laster of Seymour, MO; Kyle Dabbs of Norwood, MO; and Kaelynn Tyler of Edwards, MO; three great grandchildren, Taela and Myah Dabbs of Mountain Grove, MO; and Cory Laster of Seymour, MO; his siblings, Delsie Hastings of Mountain Grove, MO; Annie Wilson of Mountain Grove, MO; Bob Tooley and wife Marjorie of Hartville, MO; Ruby Kennedy and husband Charles of Mountain Grove, MO; as well as a number of nieces, nephews and other family members and dear friends. The family would like to also recognize Abe Lakey of Climax Springs, MO; a dear friend who has been invaluable to Henry and the family these last few months. Henry was born in Laclede County, MO; and he moved to Hartville, MO; when he was a young boy. He started working at a very young age to help support the family. He knew what a hard day’s work was and up until a couple of months ago, could still outwork most people half his age. Henry made his profession as a logger and worked at a saw mill from the age of 21 until, in November 2000, when he was cutting a very large tree, a freak logging accident caused the tree he was cutting to jump backwards and land on him crushing one of his legs and his hip. This would have killed a lesser man, but he fought and walked out of the hospital, one month later, on Christmas Eve day of 2000. That ended his logging and saw milling career. From then on, Henry made a living by cutting and selling firewood, until recently when he could no longer handle a chainsaw. He was a hardworking man from an early age. He also volunteered as a firefighter with FF 14-17 Fire Department for 7 years as a fire fighter and as an assistant chief and co-chief for the next 18 years. Henry loved fishing, setting trout lines, going gigging for suckers, frog hunting and hunting almost any type of wildlife. He was a man that lived off the land. Henry never met a stranger and would help anyone that needed it. Henry always had stories to tell you about growing up and life in general, and boy could he tell some stories. Henry may not have known much about today’s technology; however, if you ask him about hunting, fishing, anything outside, logging, wood cutting, how to cut-up fish or wildlife, or how to cook fish correctly; well, let’s just say that you could not have found anyone that knew how to do it better. In the later part of Henry’s life, he loved going to church. A big highlight in Henry’s religious faith was when he was baptized by his friends Dr. Wayne Cooper and Bryant Burton in February of 2007. Up until his death, Henry would still tell you the story of how great it felt to have his friends there to help baptize him into the Lord. One of the ways that Henry felt that he was doing the Lord’s work was by doing Church fish fry’s; and anyone that had the pleasure of being invited to one of these knew just how good of a fish fryer Henry was when it came to cooking for the Lord. Henry was a very proud member of the Graceland Church in Camdenton. Anyone who has been taught how to fry fish properly by Henry can see it now with Henry sitting up there in Heaven on the tailgate of his pickup truck, next to his homemade fish fryer giving instructions. Telling everyone to wring the water out of the fish, wait until lard is just right and drop them in, do not stir the fish, because you would take all the coating off of them. Keep the spoon away until they started turning brown and then flip them over, wait until they float and take them out, put them in a cardboard soda or beer flat with paper towels. Henry will be missed dearly by his family and friends. Henry was a loving son, dad, grandpa, brother, and uncle, and was a caring neighbor and friend. We celebrate his life and accomplishments and will treasure the many wonderful memories he has created for his family and many dear friends. Funeral services will be held at 11:00, a.m. Saturday, October 21, 2017 in the Allee-Holman-Howe Funeral Home, Camdenton. Burial will follow in Tooley Family Cemetery, Hartville, Missouri. Visitation will be from 5-7:00 p.m. Friday, October 20, 2017 in the Allee-Holman-Howe Funeral Home. Memorial donations may be made to the family and may be left at the funeral Home. Arrangements are under the direction of the Allee-Holman-Howe Funeral Home of Camdenton.