Harlen Hal “Duke” Cantrell passed away October 18, 2014 at his home near Conway with his family by his side.
Duke was born December 7, 1938, in Niangua to Hazel and Joe Cantrell, the fourth of 12 children. He graduated from Niangua High School in 1957 and headed west, working on oil rigs and exploring the country.
In 1961 he joined the U.S. Army and spent most of his six years of service near Mannheim, Germany. There he met and married Helga Berg. Together they had two children Patricia Ann and Sandra Lynn. He later met Peggy Spence and took her for his second wife in 1978. She brought three children to their union: Phyllis Ann, Sandra Kay, and Danny Lee.
In the late 1960s he moved with Helga and girls to Wichita where he worked as a mechanic, specializing in the high performance Ford Cobra Jet engine and earning the lifelong nickname “Cobra Jet Crash Duke Cantrell.” In 1970 he became a Mason and joined the Joppa Masonic Lodge #223 in Leon, Kansas.
In 1972 the family moved to Colorado near Estes Park, where Duke enjoyed fishing and Harley Davidson motorcycle riding. They moved back home to Missouri in 1977 to a farm at Beech, near Elkland. Duke began raising beef cattle and joined in the family business Cantrell Brothers Garage in Marshfield.
He started another business Cobra Trucking around 1980 and logged many over-the-road adventures with his wife Peggy, friends, and relatives. He retired from trucking in the early 2000s with health issues and enjoyed spending quality time with family members, including nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents Hazel and Joe; son Danny; and four siblings Joe Glen Cantrell, Vick Cantrell, Pauletta Robinson, and Judy Keesling. He is survived by his wife Peggy; daughters Phyllis “Annie” Songe, Sandy Skinner, Patty Cantrell, and Sandy Edel; grandchildren Amanda Schmidt, Casey Whipple, Lidia Whipple, Beth O’Brian, Alisha Prater, Olivia Watlington, Whitney Prater, Jordan Edel and Charlie Edel; great-grand-children Makenna Waldron, Kylie O’Brian, Marlee Whipple, and Lincoln Whipple. Also surviving are seven siblings Mary Ann Graser, Janet Sue Clawson, Ted Cantrell, Jack Cantrell, Nancy Throne, Robin Whitney, and Steve Cantrell; dozens of nieces and nephews; and a large and loving community of other family and friends.
Services will be held at Fraker Funeral Home, 1131 State Highway A in Marshfield. Visitation will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 21, starting with Masonic Rites. Funeral services are at 1 p.m. Wednesday October 22.
Harlen Hal “Cobra Jet Crash Duke” Cantrell will be buried at Marshfield Cemetery.