Wil Dabbs

(From Clark Funeral Home)

Dr. Wilbur “Wil” Duane Dabbs passed from this life June 15, 2024, at 94. He was born to Emmett Loren Dabbs and Edith Melissa Roller Dabbs on May 21, 1930, in Pepsin, Missouri.

During the Great Depression, the entire family helped put food on the table. By age 12, Wil was the youngest member of the McDonald County Strawberry Growers Association, managing two acres of strawberries. As a teenager, he spent a summer in Minnesota building grain silos.

After graduating Granby High School, Wil attended Southwest Missouri State University, where he was a member of the men’s gymnastics team despite having no prior gymnastics experience. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree at David Lipscomb College in Nashville.

He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was a member of the 464th Troop Carrier Wing, achieving the rank of First Lieutenant. He became a Navigator, an Instructor-Navigator and later served as the Navigation School Director.

During his six years of service, Wil flew over the North Pole, a story he often recalled at Christmas, and once deviated from the flight path to fly just a few hundred feet over the U.S. Capitol Building.

Wil completed his pre-med studies at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. In 1962, he received his M.D. from the University of Tennessee, where he was vice president of his class and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honorary medical fraternity.

That fall, he met Dawn Clabough of Memphis through mutual friends. They married on February 2, 1963.

Wil completed his internship at Baptist Hospital in Nashville before the couple relocated to Neosho, Missouri. He joined Sale Hospital, where he practiced anesthesia, emergency medicine, and family practice for 35 years. He was board-certified in family practice and emergency medicine.

After retiring, he and Dawn enjoyed traveling and playing various card and domino games.

Wil was famously competitive in Scrabble and was a six-time contestant at the National Scrabble Championship. At one point, he was the top-ranked player in the state. Family members considered it a major cause for celebration if somebody beat him, although they only ever won by cheating.

Wil made several medical mission trips to Panama and Ukraine. He spent many years on the York College Board of Trustees, a private Christian college in York, Nebraska. He was a member of the Rocketdyne Road Church of Christ, where he served as an elder and Bible class teacher.

He is survived by Dawn, his wife of 61 years. He leaves behind three children: Allison Dabbs Garrett and her husband Justin “Chip” of Edmond, Oklahoma; Suzanne Dabbs of Neosho; and Gordon Dabbs and his wife Ila of Dallas, Texas.

Wil also leaves behind five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren: Ethan Garrett, his wife Danielle, and their children Charlotte and Christopher of Edmond; Tori Garrett of Edmond; Noah Garrett of Lewisville, Texas; Claudia Dabbs Zahn and her husband Aaron of Durham, North Carolina; and David Dabbs of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He is preceded in death by his parents, four sisters—Wilma Gilmore, Donnis Luck, Nadine Keith, and Marianna Blankenship—and three brothers—Troy Dabbs, Gene Dabbs, and Ivan Dabbs.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to York University at york.edu/give or Rocketdyne Road Church of Christ at ccneosho.com/give.