Dan C. Beckner, 83, of Springfield, passed away September 29, 2021. He was born November 16, 1937 to Claude and Arena Beckner on a farm outside Marshfield, MO.

Early on he showed a great promise in music, especially in singing. Dee Etta Blinn encouraged his talent by taking him to Springfield for voice lessons, which gave him a life-long career in music. He graduated from SMS in 1960 and became a music teacher at Lebanon High School. He later moved to St. Louis County and taught at Lindberg High School. He finished out his career working for the MO State Department of Education. He also had a great interest in church music and led choirs in Lebanon, Springfield and St. Louis County. He met his future wife, ZoAnn Nelson, at SMS and they married in 1959.

His greatest passion has been Hidden Waters Park in Marshfield. He started with 3 acres, a weed patch and many thorn trees. A special thanks to Jack Waters, who helped get the city interested in the idea of a park. Anita Hunter added acreage to what has become a ten-acre nature park. Chuck Picard, Lib and Bill Sims, Chris and Scott Davis and many, many others have added a lot of sweat equity that has made the acreage into a lovely nature park for the city to enjoy.

Visitation will be held from 4:00 – 6:00 PM on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home. Graveside Service will be at 10:00 AM on Thursday, October 7 in Maple Park Cemetery. A Memorial Service is planned for later in the year at the park.

In lieu of flowers (or food), any donations should go to Dan's beloved Hidden Waters Park and can be sent to the Funeral Home, 1947 E. Seminole, Springfield, MO 65804.