Jesse Bill Toney

JB went to be with his lord and savior on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, June 5, 2020 at the Faith Lutheran Church in Sagerton with Pastor Paul Cannon officiating. Burial will follow at the Fairview Cemetery in the Sagerton Community in Haskell County. A visitation will be from 6:00 until 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Tankersley Funeral Home in Stamford.

JB was born February 26, 1934 in Boling, Texas, to DW and Katie Toney. JB was named after two of his uncles, Jesse and Bill, but he never cared for the name so he shortened it to JB. He graduated from Boling High School in 1952, in the midst of the Korean War. In 1957, JB was drafted into the U.S. Army in which he actively served through 1959, when he transferred into the Army reserves, and was later honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant. Upon returning to civilian life, he went to work for Texas Gulf Sulfur and soon after met the love of his life, Dorothy Pearl Knipling. They were married on August 19, 1961, at St. Paul Lutheran (now known as Faith Lutheran) Church in Sagerton, Texas. JB and Dorothy had two children, Bruce Toney and Rene Toney McAden. In 1968, JB received a job transfer that moved him and his young family all the way to Dakar Senegal in West Africa where they lived for 2 years, before returning to the United States. After a brief time in Nederland, Texas, JB left the corporate world to take over the family farm in Sagerton, Texas where he & Dorothy built a little red brick house that the Toney family would call home for the next 47 years. They whole-heartedly embraced the tight-knit farming community as their home, joining Faith Lutheran Church where JB served numerous years on the Church Council, served as President of the Congregation, taught Sunday School and confirmation classes, and would even preach the Sunday sermon from time to time when the pastor was on vacation. JB loved to go fishing, watching John Wayne movies, and playing Santa Claus at Christmastime for the local children. JB is perhaps most well known by those who knew him well for his ornery, good-natured antics and wry sense of humor. He made it his life’s ambition to make everyone around him laugh. He was known to laugh hardest at his own jokes, sometimes before he even made it to the punch line. His greatest joy in life was his family, and the time they spent together, especially when his grandchildren would come to visit. He is preceded in death by his parents, DW & Katie Toney, Mother & Father-in-law Arthur & Frieda Knipling, his two sisters Sarah Toney and Mildred Guess, and his sister-in-law Lois Peel. He is survived by his wife & best friend of 58 years, Dorothy, his two children and their spouses, Rene & Jon McAden, and Bruce & Michelle Toney, and his five grandchildren, Tarah Toney, Josh McAden, Clay Toney, Megan Toney, and Lauren McAden. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Dahlia Perkins, as well as 3 nieces, 1 nephew, and numerous close friends. Memorials can be sent to Faith Lutheran Church, 2308 St. Hwy. 283, Sagerton, TX 79548.