Harry Lafayette ‘Lafe’ Plumb Jr., 76

A celebration of the life of Harry Lafayette ‘Lafe’ Plumb Jr., 76, of Willard, will be held at a time and date to be announced later. Mr. Plumb died peacefully at his home on June 17, 2018.
He was born April 6, 1942, in Casa Grande, Arizona, the son of Harry L. Plumb Sr. and Myra McCune Plumb. When he was a child, the family moved to Tempe, Arizona. While attending Tempe High School he developed his love of journalism while serving as co-editor of the school newspaper. His education continued through four years at Arizona State University. In 1966, he moved to Blythe, California, to work for the Palo Verde Valley Times; he also became a correspondent for the Riverside Press Enterprise.
In 1968, he and his partner, Stephen Bennett, bought a farm at Rockbridge and moved there. Mr. Plumb worked at the Douglas County Herald and also taught at both Dora and Thornfield schools. In 1972, he bought the Mountain Grove Journal in Wright County. Two years later, he also bought the Cabool Enterprise. He operated both newspapers for several years and also created a new newspaper, the South Central Ozarks Farmer, to feature farm operations in Wright, Texas and eastern Douglas counties. Subsequently, he and his partner moved to Ava, where he spent the next few years in the real estate business.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Plumb was once again called back into journalism when he went to work for and eventually purchased the Ozark County Times. In 1989, following the sale of all the newspapers, he and his partner went to Key West on a weekend trip – and ended up staying 13 years, enjoying the tropical paradise. After enduring several hurricanes there, in 2002 Mr. Plumb and his partner retired to their house in Asheville, North Carolina. After a few months of sitting still, he went back to newspaper work, handling circulation issues for the Asheville Citizen Times.
In 2008, Mr. Plumb and his partner returned to Ozark County, settling on a farm near Theodosia where Lakeland terriers played an important role in his life; he was involved in breeding the unusual dogs until his death.
He is survived by Stephen Bennett, his partner of 52 years, and many friends and business associates, as well as a small group of close friends who were his “family.”
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Rick.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423