Joseph Dennis Darnell, 75

A memorial service for Joseph Dennis Darnell, 75, of Gainesville, will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Clinkingbeard Funeral Home in Gainesville. Mr. Darnell died Oct. 9 at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

He was born Sept. 14, 1946, in Fredericktown, the son of Medford and Wilma Smith Darnell. On Nov. 7, 1965, he married Gainesville resident Beverly Stevens. They were the parents of two girls, Jeri and Jackie.

Joe spent his teenage years at his parents’ Fish and Fiddle Resort and often said there wasn’t a better place for a teenage boy to grow up than on the lake. He graduated from Mountain Home High School then attended Central Missouri State University and received his police officer certification. He spent many years as a deputy and later as a jailer for the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department, a job he took pride in and enjoyed very much. 

However, everyone who knew Joe knew his passion was horses. He and Beverly spent the majority of their lives showing and conditioning horses. Joe was known for his ability to get a horse ready for competition.

He is survived by his daughters, Jeri Dotson and husband Danny of Mountain Home and Jackie Smith and husband Jay of Dora; his sisters, Jan Cook and husband Joe, Kathy Lee and husband Glenn, and Sugar Sims and husband Rick; one brother, Stone Darnell and wife Karol; four grandchildren, Danielle Dotson, Laken Berry and husband Drew, Hunter Jones and Isabella Dotson; one great-grandson Ryder Berry; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Kenneth Darnell; and his wife, Beverly.

Burial will be at Sims Cemetery. Honorary pallbearers will be his closet friends, Danny Dotson, Jay Smith, Drew Berry, Hunter Jones, Dick House, Roger Lonon, Randall Mitchell, Ed McJimsey and Rocky Acklin.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to Sims Cemetery and may be left at or mailed to the funeral home at P.O. Box 65, Gainesville, MO 65655. Arrangements are under the direction of Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, Gainesville.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

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