Family remembers Buckner, Missouri husband, wife killed in Texas crash

BUCKNER, Mo. — A Buckner Missouri husband and wife were killed in a crash on a Texas Highway Wednesday.

The couple was in their 70s. Dennis and DeAun Young leave behind five sons and nine grandchildren. But they’re part of a larger community family too. They volunteered years of service in Eastern Jackson County.

“They’ve always been instilling with us a strong sense of volunteerism and community. If we made a list of all the things my parents were involved in it would be an extraordinary list,” their son Luke Young said.

That current list included tutoring, swim lessons and life guard instruction, pastoring, coaching, MOJA camp counselors, VFW Commander, and Boy Scout troop leaders, just to name a few.

“My parents just never were afraid to get involved or be active,” their son Sam Young said.

Family says that volunteerism only increased as they reached retirement in their 70s. Pillars in the community, for Luke, Sam and their brothers Dennis and DeAun were just mom and dad.

“The first thought that I had about this comes in my head, I don’t have any parents anymore. That phrase that concept is what broke me for the first time,” Luke said.

But they say they are touched by the outpouring of support they’ve received the past 48 hours since their death as they travelled to visit family in Arizona.

“It kind of shows how impactful they were in the community, everybody knew them. It’s more than just knew them, they were influenced by them, they were impacted by them.”

In lieu of flowers the family is asking for donations to Camp MOJA, a week long camp for adults with intellectual disabilities where the Youngs volunteered the past 14 years.