John F. “Dale” Denney

Funeral services for John F. “Dale” Denney, 87, Lawrence, will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Warren-McElwain Mortuary. Graveside services will be at noon Friday at La Crosse Cemetery in La Crosse.Mr. Denney died on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.He was born Jan. 3, 1921, in Chase, the son of Clyde W. and Hattie Webster Denney.Mr. Denney was a World War II veteran, serving with the Kansas National Guard’s 35th Division from November 1939 to August 1945. He participated in the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge with Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army. He held the rank of 1st Sergeant.In 1949, Mr. Denney began a career in law enforcement. He served as an officer, a motorcycle officer and a detective in Great Bend. From 1961 to 1968, he served as a police officer and chief of police in La Crosse. From 1968 to 1978, he served as chief of police in Russell.He worked for the Division of Weights and Measures with the Kansas Highway Patrol from 1982 to 1992. After retirement, Mr. Denney worked in the furniture department of Wal-Mart from 1993 to 1998.He married Manetta M. Krug on April 9, 1941. She died in December 1992. He married Mary Cunningham Burton on Nov. 11, 1995. She survives, of the home.Other survivors include two sons, James R. and wife Sandy, of the home, and John D., Lawrence; a stepson, Bob Burton, Lawrence; four stepdaughters, Beth Barnes and Darlene Thompson, both of Lawrence, Patty Barnes, Pomona, and Shirley McNear, Columbia, Mo.; three sisters, Ethel Mae Baldwin and Helen Moos, both of Great Bend, and Mary Seeley, Santa Rosa, Calif.; one grandson, Brian Denney; one granddaughter, Elisa Hill; 17 stepgrandchildren; and 30 stepgreat-grandchildren.Visitors may call from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the mortuary. The family suggests memorials to the American Cancer Society or to Cottonwood Inc., sent in care of the mortuary.Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com, subject: Denney.