Donald Eugene Burford, 88, of Leeton, Missouri, died Thursday, Nov. 26, at his home.

Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, at Sweeney-Phillips & Holdren Funeral Home in Warrensburg. Interment will follow at Mineral Creek Cemetery with full military honors. The family received friends Monday, Nov. 30.

Donald was born Dec. 3, 1926, near Leeton, the son of William Christopher and Emma Virginia Hawthorne Burford. He attended Leeton High School until he was drafted into World War II. The Leeton R-X Board of Education presented him with an honorary high school diploma on Dec. 18, 2003, by Project Recognition, a cooperative effort of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Missouri Veterans Commission, at the age of 76.

Donald was united in marriage to Norma Jean Lampman on Jan. 27, 1949, at the home of the Rev. James Mohler near Leeton. To this union five children were born: Kenneth Wayne, Eddy Dean, Donna Jean, Randy James and Virginia Ann.

Donald was united in marriage to Loretta Maye (Fowler) Burford on June 26, 1970, in Miama, Oklahoma. To this union four stepchildren were born: Deborah Deanna, Kimberly Sue, Darryl Dean and Kelly Don.

He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Leeton and the American Legion Post 131 in Warrensburg.

He had his own business, Burford Building and Remodeling, was employed with Remington Arms Ammunition Plant, worked for the railroad, worked maintenance at Whiteman Air Force Base, and other employment during his lifetime. He built wooden windmills and set at the junction of Route 13 and Route 2, where he became known as the “Windmill Man.”

Survivors include his wife, Loretta; his children, Kenneth Wayne, and wife, Ida, of Indpendence; Donna Jean Luehrman and husband, Roger, of Warrensburg; Randy James and wife, Beth, of Clinton; and Virginia Ann Arrowsmith and fiancé, Ricky Stapleton, of Salisbury; stepchildren, Deborah Deanne (Burford) Bodenhamer and husband, Gary, of Warrensburg; Kimberly Sue (Burford) Conover and fiancé, Jim Tomes, of Midwest City, Oklahoma; Darryl Dean Burford and fiancée, Teresa Plakorus, of Leeton; and Kelly Don Burford, of Leeton; eight grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; eight step-grandchildren; and several step-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Eddy Dean; three brothers, Hubert Francis, Willard Wayne and Billy Dean; and a step-great-granddaughter, Brijae De’ Andrea Carpenter.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the First Baptist Church of Leeton or Mineral Creek Cemetery and can be left in care of the funeral home.