Jimmy Dejmal

Jimmy Melvin Dejmal, 93, was born on March 12, 1926 in Narka, Kansas, to Jerry and Ruth Dejmal, and passed away on December 31, 2019, at the Belleville Health Care Center. Jim graduated from Munden High School in 1944, and excelled at playing basketball on various town teams in the area.

Jim married Louise Cleveland in Concordia, Kansas on August 27, 1950, and they had two children, Nancy Louise and Susan Leigh.  He spent his life in the livestock business, starting with cattle.  In March 1962, Dejmal’s Angus topped the market, bringing the highest selling price of the day at Omaha’s Union Stockyards.  Jim transitioned into the sheep business and was the President of the Kansas Sheep & Wool Growers Association in 1973. He owned one of the largest ewe flocks in Kansas and as an industry innovator, was the first to use electric fencing with his sheep. When he wasn’t working, Jim was fond of fancy red cars and polka music.

Jim later sold the farm and moved to Wheatland, Wyoming, then to Wichita, Kansas before returning to work on the family farm.   He married Donna Collins on March 20, 1998 and they lived in Concordia, Kansas, where they enjoyed traveling, gardening and watching basketball. Jim was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Concordia.

Survivors include daughters Nancy Dejmal from Belgrade Montana & Lawrence Kansas; and Susan Byorth, husband Patrick and two grandsons Teagan & Conor, from Bozeman, Montana; and many nieces and nephews. Jim was preceded in death by his parents, brother Don, and spouses.

A graveside memorial service at Tabor Cemetery, rural Munden, will be held on Saturday, June 27th, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. Following the service, the family will greet friends at the Munden Community Center from 10am - noon.

Memorials may be made to the Munden Community Center, and may be sent in care of Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home.

Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home assisted the Dejmal family with these arrangements, www.tibbettsfischerfuneralhome.com