John Richard Cummins, 77, of Stanberry, Mo., died Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, at the Golden Living Care Center in Albany, Mo., surrounded by his family and supportive AseraCare Hospice team members. A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011, at St. Peter's Catholic Church, 614 N. Alanthus Ave. in Stanberry. Visitation in the parish hall will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9. Inurnment at St. Columba Cemetery at Conception Abbey will take place at a later date. Richard was born Nov. 28, 1933, near Ford City in Gentry County, Missouri, the third child of John Patrick and Helen Evans Cummins. He grew up on the family's new farm south of Stanberry, attending the Beggs School through the 8th grade. In 1951, he graduated from Stanberry R-II High School, where he was a charter member of the Stanberry FFA Chapter. He was also active in 4-H, showing his prize-winning steers throughout the area. He graduated with a B.S. in animal husbandry from the University of Missouri College of Agriculture in 1955, then served the U.S. Army Artillery as a first lieutenant and communications officer at Ft. Benning, Ga., until 1957. Richard married Louise Wilkerson on June 30, 1956, at St. Peter's in Stanberry. After his military service, he returned to Stanberry to farm with his father, developing a successful purebred Angus cattle operation using the Emulous line. He was active in the American Angus Association and served as president of Performance Registry International. He was passionate about soil and water conservation and improving farm practices and record-keeping. He used the GI Bill to pay for ground school and flying lessons, earning his private and commercial pilot licenses plus instrument and multi-engine ratings. Later he became a Realtor specializing in farmland sales, before moving from farming to becoming a Shelter Insurance agent in Stanberry for 22 years. He also sold crop insurance for Rain and Hail LLC. He served on the board of Gentry County Memorial Hospital (now Northwest Missouri Medical Center) in Albany for 29 years, including terms as chairman and overseeing a $1.5 million renovation and expansion. Richard and Louise are oblates of Conception Abbey and members of St. Peter's parish, where Richard taught CCD classes for many years and was a founding member of the Fr. Graham Council of the Knights of Columbus. He was an independent man of many talents who loved to learn from books and life about geology (particularly the Flint Hills of Kansas), weather, golf, lawn and turf management (helping replace the sand "greens" at the local course), aviation, history, politics and rural economic development. He shared what he knew with his daughters as they worked with him on the farm, and instilled in them a life-long love of learning and confidence in their abilities. He shared of himself with his community, friends and family members in good times and bad. Richard was preceded in death by his parents and by his brother, Robert Cummins, Middletown, N.J. He is survived by his wife, Louise; his sisters Mary Cummins Donovan, Stanberry, and Carole Cummins Spurgin, Washington, D.C.; daughter Marilyn Cummins, her husband Neal Fandek and their son William Cummins Fandek of Columbia, Mo.; daughter Valerie Cummins Kisling and her husband Robert, son Paul Cummins Kisling and daughter Charlotte Louise Kisling of Stillwater, Okla.; and many nieces and nephews. Memorial donations may be made to Conception Abbey or the Alzheimer's Foundation in care of the Roberson-Polley Chapel, 403 N. Hundley, Albany, MO 64402. Online condolences may be left at www.robersonpolleychapel.com.