David Smythe Lindsay, 87 of Warrensburg, Missouri passed away Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at the Arbors of Harmony Gardens in Warrensburg.

David was born on June 16, 1937 in Cincinnati Ohio to Smythe Hendrix Lindsay and Jean Mitchell Lindsay.  He grew up in Texas between the towns of Amarillo, Dallas and San Antonio, the son of an Episcopal priest that moved from town to town "fixing" churches that were in turmoil.

He grew up hunting and fishing like most boys his age and shared the experience with his sons when they were old enough to participate.  One tidbit of knowledge that he did not share with his boys was the formula for garage gunpowder which he used to make his own fireworks at the age of 10. This was probably due to the unfortunate decision to put a homemade firework "dud" in his back pocket that turned out to be a "late bloomer" and significantly reduced the size of his left butt cheek.

He told me he was a poor student in school, a trait that two of us boys inherited and thankfully, the third son did not. He did, however, do well enough to get accepted to Northwestern University in Chicago IL.  While on summer breaks in he earned money as a counselor at the Silver Spur Ranch in Gresham Wisconsin where he went by the name Dixie.  He played the guitar and harmonica and danced with the guests when necessary, although dancing wasn't his favorite thing to do. He also taught water skiing even though he could not ski himself. He told students that he could not demonstrate due to a (faked) broken toe and managed to make it his whole life without every even trying.

One summer at the Silver Spur, he met our future mom Sharon Rebenschied.  She was from Illinois and considered a Yankee by the Texas family and his mother was not overjoyed when he announced that he was getting married to her. I am not sure she ever fully accepted Mom but they worked things out. Jean was a strong personality and a force to be reckoned with.

Sometime after getting married, Dave graduated from college and joined the Army. He served during peacetime in the 101st Airborne where he did over 50 jumps. His training was in Army Intelligence, and always laughed when he said that.

He earned his Ph. D  at the University of Florida on the GI Bill and moved to Missouri in 1966 to begin working at CMSU, where he taught political science and US Government for 29 years.  He rose to Full Professor and could brag about being the most published professor at CMSU.  I still have people come up and tell me that dad was their favorite teacher. He was very popular among the students.

Dad loved music and taught all of us boys and some of my friends how to play the guitar. His dream was to have a family band but none of us boys had the same passion, so it never came to pass. He did enjoy playing his Martin Guitar with his friends when every they had the chance. He also played the saw. With a bow. You can google Musical Saw, it's really a thing.

All his life he was a gardener and loved growing vegetables and roses. He loved to give away roses and there are five rose bushes at the house that are over 32 years old. We get beautiful blooms all summer long.

The last ten years of his life he spent close to home, preferring not to travel more than an hour away in any direction.  He was happy living in the "octagon house" in Timber Hills with the tall trees and thick foliage constantly closing in on the porch. All the neighbors and little kids loved him and liked to visit his eccentrically decorated house. He kept dog treats handy for the neighbors' dogs that would come visit regularly and did his part caring for Murray, the community tomcat. He loved animals and nature and taught us boys to appreciate them too.

He is survived by his former wife Sharon Whittlinger of Olathe Kansas, close friend and  partner Deleta Williams, three sons Kit and his wife Amy, Daniel the professional bachelor and Stephen and wife Jina.  Two grandsons and two great-grandchildren.

He did a great job raising us and providing for us and his words and philosophies will be with us forever.  Both the good ones and the bad ones but mostly good ones.  He can rest in peace knowing that he was well loved.

Memorial services will be held 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at Williams Funeral Chapel in Warrensburg with Rev. Sid Tiller officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to service at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Boy Scouts Troop 400 in care of the funeral home.