Dale Roy Wills, 92, of Berryton Kansas, formerly of Perryville, passed away peacefully Wednesday, March 6, 2024, with his son Corey by his side at Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka Kansas following a brief illness. He was born June 23, 1931 “in the middle of a dust storm” on a farm near Arriba Colorado. He married Melva June Fassold September 20, 1953, in Perryville. They were married for 61 years until her passing in 2015.
Dale was quite a storyteller, often speaking of his childhood growing up on farms around Arriba Colorado, Gorham Illinois, and in Perry County Missouri. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1951 and served for three years before being honorably discharged at the rank of Corporal. Although serving during the Korean War, Dale’s service was entirely stateside. He would joke that he “fought the battle of Baltimore Maryland.” During his service, he was sent on temporary duty in 1952 to Nevada where he participated with other ground troops as an observer in one of the above ground atomic bomb tests.
After discharge from the U.S. Army, Dale’s work centered around agriculture. He served the country as a USDA meat inspector for the majority of his career.
Dale enjoyed traveling with his family on summer vacations. They toured much of the US on long camping trips by car or RV. His love of gardening grew into running a hobby farm, often growing several hundreds of pounds of popcorn a year along with other organically grown fruits and vegetables he would sell through Rozier’s grocery store or out of the back of his pickup. He enjoyed cooking, often saying no one knew how to make oxtail soup like he did. He also loved airplanes, obtaining his private pilot license in 1968.
