Marvin Fender

Marvin Fender

Funeral services for Marvin Fender will be held at the Jamesport United Methodist Church at 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 22, under the direction of the Lindley Funeral Home of Chillicothe. There is no scheduled family visitation. Friends may call from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. today (Wednesday) at the Lindley Funeral Home, Chillicothe, and from noon until 9 p.m. on Thursday and 10 a.m. until service time Friday at the Jamesport United Methodist Church. Burial will be in the Jamesport Masonic Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Jamesport United Methodist Church or the Tri- County Alumni Scholarship Fund and may be left at or mailed to the Lindley Funeral Home, P.O. Box 47, Chillicothe, MO 64601.

Marvin E. Fender, 87, Jamesport, died Oct. 19, 1999, at his home.

Mr. Fender was born in Jamesport and graduated from its high school as valedictorian in 1931. He graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1935. In 1938, he married Viola Evelyn Coriell in Gallatin. She preceded him in death on Oct. 29, 1992.

Mr. Fender served in the Army from 1941 until 1945. In 1935 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant from the University of Missouri ROTC program. From 1942 until 1944 he was an instructor in Wheeled Vehicle Maintenance at Ft. Knox, Ky. From 1944 until 1945 he was Commander of Company D of the 398 Military Policy Battalion, also serving as a Judge Advocate in Paris, France.

At the University of Missouri, Mr. Fender was a three-year letterman in wrestling and was the first BIG 6 Heavy Weight Wrestling Champion of the university. He was a member of the M Club, Alpha Gamma Sigma, and the RUF NEX (an honorary agriculture fraternity). He was a member of the UMC Student Council, the Blue Key Society, and the ROTC UMC Tiger Battery.

Mr. Fender designed and built some of the first soil conservation terraces in Livingston County when he returned from college.

He was a member of the Jamesport United Methodist Church. He was a lifetime member of the Jamesport VFW Post #4131, a charter member of the Livingston County Farm Bureau, the Livingston County Balanced Farming Association, and the Grand River Historical Society. He was a former member of the Livingston County School Board. He was a member of the Jamesport Lions Club and a Tri-County school board member.

Mr. Fender was one of the founders of the Jamesport Development Corporation, Meadow View Apartments. He was also one of the founders of the Tri-County Alumni Scholarship Fund and he established the Villa Fender Memorial Scholarship Funds for math teachers in the Chillicothe R- II and Jamesport Tri-County schools.

Mr. Fender was also preceded in death by two sisters, Villa Fender and Velta Wishard; and one brother, Gordon.

He is survived by one daughter, Janice Fender, Jamesport; three sons, Alan of Jamesport, Keith of Alexandria, Va., and David of Murray, Ky.; a sister-in-law, Lola Mae Fender, Gallatin; nine grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and a cousin, Kathleen (Cook) Christoffersen, who was rased in the home.