Robert Nelson (R.N.) Leeper was born to Robert William (Bob) Leeper and Beulah Mae (Maxwell) Leeper of Lockwood, MO, on 9 June 1928. He was a life-long resident of Dade and Lawrence counties. He began working on his father’s farm early in life, without ever finishing high school. Young R.N. carried water to the threshing crews on a mule. He later bought a truck to haul the grain from the threshing fields to the local grain elevator. He worked many long hours raising hay and corn for silage on his Grade A dairy farm, while milking a herd of Holstein cows (with a few Jerseys thrown in to increase the cream content). He rented pasture from other landowners to graze his young heifers and steers. He also raised pigs, sheep, and a few horses. As a sharecropper, he tilled hundreds of acres of wheat, corn, soybeans, and millet across both counties with a WC and a WD Allis Chalmers tractor. R.N. was both innovative and progressive throughout his life. In the mid-1950s, he and his father bolted 6 foot long 2” x 6”s to the track pads of their 3 cylinder Oliver crawler in order to pull the corn picker through the extremely wet fields. He purchased a lift mounted 4-row corn planter and pioneered the use of rows centered less than 36 inches apart. R.N. also provided custom harvesting of hay, silage, red top, and fescue throughout the area. He worked at two rock quarries one just outside Lockwood and another near Pennsboro. His self-built dump wagons with false end gates served as great labor-savings assets at many a trench and upright silo. Following a late summer storm which practically ruined the corn and milo crops in the 1960s, he replaced his Gehl silage cutter with a revolutionary, low profile, New Holland model, which was able (unlike any others at that time) to pick up the stalks blown flat on the ground by the high winds. While employed at the MFA Mill in Lockwood, he was injured in an accident and his right ankle had to be fused. His dairy farm was later converted to raising beef cattle. He drove a road grader for many years for the Lockwood, Green, Smith, and Vineyard townships. He started a lime and fertilizer spreading business and drove a school bus for 14 years to supplement his farm income. When his children entered school, he also found time to serve on the board for Miller R-2 School District. Mr. Leeper purchased a track loader and dump truck and began hauling creek gravel for private individuals and local township roadwork. R.N. lived in Germany for 2 years with his son, Wayne, in the early 1990s. He particularly enjoyed working at the Heidelberg Post Exchange, checking ID cards and passports and chatting with customers from all over the United States. He never seemed to meet a stranger. After returning to Missouri, he began transporting bees in the hives between fields of cucumbers and green beans to help promote the pollination process. He was a resident of the Dade County Nursing Home for over 11 years and even started a lawn mowing business while living there. He was a member of the King’s Point Baptist Church, but regularly attended the First Baptist Church in Lockwood. R.N. enjoyed two-stepping at the local American Legion and Senior Citizen centers in Miller, Monett, Sarcoxie, Mt. Vernon, Ozark, Lamar, Aurora, and Bolivar. Robert Nelson is survived by a brother, James Maxwell (Max) Leeper of Lockwood; a sister, Genie Mae Smith of Quitman, TX; two sons, Robert Wayne Leeper of Hot Springs Village, AR, and Thomas Allen (Tom) Leeper of Miller; three daughters, Barbara Maxine Payne of Purdy, Beth Eileen Spain of Miller, and Brenda Jean Spain of South Greenfield; their mother, Wanda Maxine (Kahre) Leeper of Miller; 10 grandchildren; and 13 great grandchildren. He struggled for many years battling high blood pressure, diabetes, an anxiety disorder, prostrate cancer, acute depression, and mild dementia. He died, on Fathers’ Day, 20 June 2010, of complications from an infection in his right leg and a broken heart. The funeral will be held at the First Baptist Church in Lockwood at 2:00 p.m., on 23 June 2010, followed by interment at King’s Point Cemetery. A visitation was held from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, 1010 in the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home in Miller, MO.
Online condolences may be shared at: fossettmosherfuneralhome.com.
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Robert Nelson (R.N.) Leeper was born to Robert William (Bob) Leeper and Beulah Mae (Maxwell) Leeper of Lockwood, MO, on 9 June 1928. He was a life-long resident of Dade and Lawrence counties. He began working on his father’s farm early in life, without ever finishing high school. Young R.N. carried water to the threshing crews on a mule. He later bought a truck to haul the grain from the threshing fields to the local grain elevator. He worked many long hours raising hay and corn for silage on his Grade A dairy farm, while milking a herd of Holstein cows (with a few Jerseys thrown in to increase the cream content). He rented pasture from other landowners to graze his young heifers and steers. He also raised pigs, sheep, and a few horses. As a sharecropper, he tilled hundreds of acres of wheat, corn, soybeans, and millet across both counties with a WC and a WD Allis Chalmers tractor. R.N. was both innovative and progressive throughout his life. In the mid-1950s, he and his father bolted 6 foot long 2” x 6”s to the track pads of their 3 cylinder Oliver crawler in order to pull the corn picker through the extremely wet fields. He purchased a lift mounted 4-row corn planter and pioneered the use of rows centered less than 36 inches apart. R.N. also provided custom harvesting of hay, silage, red top, and fescue throughout the area. He worked at two rock quarries one just outside Lockwood and another near Pennsboro. His self-built dump wagons with false end gates served as great labor-savings assets at many a trench and upright silo. Following a late summer storm which practically ruined the corn and milo crops in the 1960s, he replaced his Gehl silage cutter with a revolutionary, low profile, New Holland model, which was able (unlike any others at that time) to pick up the stalks blown flat on the ground by the high winds. While employed at the MFA Mill in Lockwood, he was injured in an accident and his right ankle had to be fused. His dairy farm was later converted to raising beef cattle. He drove a road grader for many years for the Lockwood, Green, Smith, and Vineyard townships. He started a lime and fertilizer spreading business and drove a school bus for 14 years to supplement his farm income. When his children entered school, he also found time to serve on the board for Miller R-2 School District. Mr. Leeper purchased a track loader and dump truck and began hauling creek gravel for private individuals and local township roadwork. R.N. lived in Germany for 2 years with his son, Wayne, in the early 1990s. He particularly enjoyed working at the Heidelberg Post Exchange, checking ID cards and passports and chatting with customers from all over the United States. He never seemed to meet a stranger. After returning to Missouri, he began transporting bees in the hives between fields of cucumbers and green beans to help promote the pollination process. He was a resident of the Dade County Nursing Home for over 11 years and even started a lawn mowing business while living there. He was a member of the King’s Point Baptist Church, but regularly attended the First Baptist Church in Lockwood. R.N. enjoyed two-stepping at the local American Legion and Senior Citizen centers in Miller, Monett, Sarcoxie, Mt. Vernon, Ozark, Lamar, Aurora, and Bolivar. Robert Nelson is survived by a brother, James Maxwell (Max) Leeper of Lockwood; a sister, Genie Mae Smith of Quitman, TX; two sons, Robert Wayne Leeper of Hot Springs Village, AR, and Thomas Allen (Tom) Leeper of Miller; three daughters, Barbara Maxine Payne of Purdy, Beth Eileen Spain of Miller, and Brenda Jean Spain of South Greenfield; their mother, Wanda Maxine (Kahre) Leeper of Miller; 10 grandchildren; and 13 great grandchildren. He struggled for many years battling high blood pressure, diabetes, an anxiety disorder, prostrate cancer, acute depression, and mild dementia. He died, on Fathers’ Day, 20 June 2010, of complications from an infection in his right leg and a broken heart. The funeral will be held at the First Baptist Church in Lockwood at 2:00 p.m., on 23 June 2010, followed by interment at King’s Point Cemetery. A visitation was held from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, 1010 in the Morris-Leiman-Mosher Funeral Home in Miller, MO.
Online condolences may be shared at: fossettmosherfuneralhome.com.
