Dick LeRoy Pilliard, 91, of Middletown, Missouri passed away at 8:18 a.m. Sunday April 28, 2024, at St. Andrews Care Center in New Florence, Missouri.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday May 4, 2024, at Grace Lutheran Church in Wellsville with Pastor Luke Wolters officiating. Burial with military honors will follow in Fairmount Cemetery in Middletown.

Visitation will be Saturday from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. at the church. Myers Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

Dick was born on April 23, 1933, in Howard, South Dakota; he was the son of Kenneth and Neta (Clites) Pilliard. His family moved to the St. Louis area when he was a child and started a truck garden.  Later they moved to farm at Silex and then to Middletown in 1948.  Dick was drafted into the Army and was a Korean War Veteran.  He told many stories about basic training and meeting young men from Chicago who had never driven a vehicle.  Dick also told stories about traveling to Korea on the ship.  While in the military he served as Military Police, and Mess Hall Sargent at the camp in Korea and on the ship.  After an honorable discharge from the Army, Dick worked at Ford Motor Company in St. Louis for two years.  Knowing he wanted to be a farmer, Dick returned to Middletown and began farming while working at the Middletown Post Office, where he completed 17 years of service.  On November 25, 1959, he married Joyce Jean Boeckelman at Grace Lutheran Church, Wellsville, Missouri.  They were married 64 years.  Dick spent his lifetime farming, was a Vigortone feed dealer and sold DeKalb Seed.  Even after he 'retired', he was a parts runner for Herb and helped with the cow herd.  He and Joyce were avid gardeners, traveled, and loved to spoil the grandkids.

Dick was a member of Grace Lutheran Church. He had been a member of the Middletown Volunteer Fire Department (whose motto at the time was "We've never lost a foundation") and the Middletown Lions Club. He had served as a Commissioner and Treasurer for the Vandalia Special Road District.

Survivors include his wife Joyce, of the home; one daughter, Beth Christine Schnitker (Herb), of Middletown; one son-in-law, Dr. James William McDowell (Marie), of Macon; one brother, Dennis Ray Pilliard (Margie), of Curryville; one brother-in-law, Leroy Boeckelman (Jayne), of Chicago, Illinois; two sisters-in-law, Irene Kalmbach, of Dallas, Texas and Ginger Pilliard, of Montgomery City; seven grandchildren, Samuel McDowell (Abby), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Emma Potter, of Macon, Larna Fidler (Michael), of Middletown, Lucy Gay (Jace), of Middletown, Kerry Beasley (Eli) of Flagstaff, Arizona, Jacob Hockman, of Columbia, and Joshua Hockman, of Denver, Colorado; and four great grandchildren, Jet Gay, and Elizabeth, Abigail, and Alyssa Beasley; numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his parents-in-law, Fred and Hilda Boeckelman; one daughter, Martha Ann McDowell; three brothers, Darrell, Deane, and Duane Pillard; and three sisters, Darlene Vaughn, DeLores Brown, and Dolly Christian.

The family suggests memorial gifts to Grace Lutheran Church or to the Central Missouri Honor Flight. They may be sent in care of Myers Funeral Home, 203 E. Bates Street, Wellsville, MO 63384.