Marvin “Brent” MacDougall, age 82, a resident of the West Liberty area of Bourbon County, Kansas, passed on September 3, 2023. He was born on April 3, 1941, in Randolph, Vermont, the second of three sons of Marvin Elroy and Beatrice Anne (Naylor) MacDougall.
Brent was a 1959 graduate of the Bennington High School in Bennington, Vermont. He was also a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and Eagle Scout. His military service included the 43rd Div Recon Cavalry Troop and the 102nd Armored Cavalry, VTNG, and four years with the U.S. Navy as a Petty Officer aboard the destroyers USS Lowe DER 325, and the USS John R. Craig, DD 885.
He spent six years in the Aerospace industry as an illustrator and technical writer. He was retired from the DANA Corp, which had transferred him to Kansas as Product Manager of their Iola, Kansas facility in 1978. He had spent thirty years in sales and marketing in the Automotive Industry, and was most proud of his part in the early days of the ASE, the automotive mechanic’s certification program, and his work as Manager of Technical Services for NAPA Brake systems, where he produced training manuals and audio-visual presentations for use by automotive mechanics in the U.S. and Canada. He later retired from the Fort Scott Community College in 2003.
Brent married Shirley Kay (Schuringa) MacDougall on July 22, 1967, at Crystal Lake, Illinois, in a double wedding where his brother Douglas Paul MacDougall was also married to Shirley’s twin sister Sheila Katherine.
He lived many years with his wife Shirley on their ranch in the West Liberty area. He attended the West Liberty United Methodist Church and was a board member and treasurer for many years. He was a past-master and secretary-treasurer of the Fulton, Kansas Masonic Lodge, and later a member of the Rising Sun Masonic Lodge in Fort Scott, Kansas. He was also treasurer of Osage Township in Bourbon County, Kansas for many years, and a past-president and vice-president of Fort Scott’s Pioneer Harvest Inc. He was also a member of the MacDougall Society, and the Sons of Civil War Veterans. His hobbies included photography and illustrating, carpentry, building “hot rods” and restoring antique cars and trucks. He also enjoyed researching and writing books on military history, most especially the Civil War.
Brent was preceded in death by his parents, his two brothers Douglas Paul MacDougall and Alvah Bruce MacDougall, and a grandson, Gary “Bubba” Burkdoll, Jr. He is survived by his wife Shirley, his daughter Jennifer Lynne Burkdoll and husband Gary, of Scranton, Kansas; seven grandchildren, Tosha (Danny) Meek, Tori (Sean) Ryser, Brent (Corrina) Kahle, Matt Burkdoll, Ethan Kahle, Chase Kahle, Blaise (Meghan) Burkdoll, and fourteen great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Sheila MacDougall, of Palatine, Illinois; sister-in-law Sandra MacDougall, of Bennington, Vermont, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Following cremation, Rev. Jim Brackett will conduct memorial services at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, September 16, 2023, at the West Liberty United Methodist Church under the direction of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home. A private family interment will take place at a later date. The family will receive friends beginning at 1:00 p.m. prior to services. Memorials may be made to the West Liberty United Methodist Church and may be left in the care of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, 15 W. Wall Street, P.O. Box 309, Fort Scott, Kansas, 66701. Condolences may be submitted to the online guestbook at konantz-cheney.com.
