Roscoe Dale Lane, Blythedale, Mo. aged 93, a retired rural carrier for the U.S. Postal Service and farmer, passed away Sunday morning, June 23, 2019 at the Decatur County hospital after a brief stay at Care Initiatives in Lamoni, Iowa.
Born January 17, 1926, to parents Howard and Arlene (Lundy) Lane, Roscoe grew up on a farm north of Blythedale near Mt. Pleasant church. He graduated from Blythedale High School at the age of 17. Shortly after he turned 19 (in early 1945), he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
After induction into the army at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., he was sent to Camp Roberts, Calif., for basic training. He received additional training in communications at Fort Ord, Calif., mule pack training at Fort Riley, Kan., and then was sent to Fort Lawton, Wa. From there, he boarded a ship to Japan and served with the occupational forces following the Japanese surrender. He was assigned to the motor pool in Tokyo and later drove a city bus there.
He had a lot of stories from his Army experience. One of the shorter ones involved General MacArthur saluting him, a lowly PFC (after Roscoe saluted first, of course).
Upon his discharge from the Army, he returned to Blythedale, where he farmed for a short time with his parents. He and Emma Pearl Johnston, also of Blythedale, were married on May 1, 1948.
Roscoe and Emma were the parents of six children, Margaret Trullinger (Ed), Michael (Becky), Daniel (Diana), Nancy Baker (Jack), Susan Patten (John) and Allan (Ellen). Roscoe and Emma had 19 grandchildren and 28 great grandchildren. Other survivors include his sister, Marjorie and a host of nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by wife Emma; daughter, Susan; sisters, Lila Geraldine and Della (Paxton); brother, Gary and daughter-in-law, Dianne Westlake Lane.
As a rural mail carrier, Roscoe worked first out of the Blythedale post office and later carried a route from Ridgeway, which included Mt. Moriah.
He was an active member of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and a supporter of the Harrison Baptist Association. He was also actively involved in the Missouri and National Rural Letter Carriers Associations. Although he retired from delivering mail in 1990, he retained his membership in and continued his support for both the state and national letter carrier organizations.
Roscoe will be sorely missed by his children and their families, his church friends, and his retired letter carrier associates.
Funeral services were June 29, at Roberson Funeral Home, Eagleville, M0. Burial in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Blythedale, Mo. Memorials may be made to the Missouri Rural Letter Carriers Scholarships in care of Roberson Funeral Home, P.O. Box 46, Eagleville, Mo. 64442. Online condolences may be left at www.robersonfuneralhome.com