Obituary

Stephanie Jo Johnson Dyer March 13, 1951 Raytown, Missouri

She was a wife, mother, grandmother, co-owner of Dyer’s Performance Specialist, Dyer’s Tyres, Chapel Hill Antiques. Member and treasurer of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Member and docent for the Lone Jack Historical Society. Member and treasurer of the Board of water and road District.

She was preceded in death by her Father Charles L. Johnson, her brother Michael Johnson.

Survivors include: husband Michael C. Dyer, Daughter Shawn Dyer Shaffer(fiancé Sean), grandchildren Patrick (Ashley)Shaffer, great granddaughter Mercedes Shaffer, Matthew R. Shaffer, R. Dalton Shaffer, son John D Dyer, III(girlfriend Kat), grandson Logan Dyer. Mother Betty Jo Johnson.

As anyone who came over during the holiday saw, she had a special collection of decorations for every holiday. She loved her cross-stich work. Every person in the family including spouses, had a special cross stitched stocking and there was a tree that Michael built for her to hang all the stockings on.

This collection included a set of special angel figures that had holiday symbols or months on them. For your birthday you got the angel for your birth month and the birthday angel by your plate and your favorite scratch made cake or pie.

There was also a table that Leon Bottemuller built for her that had a glass top which lifted to hold special items that corresponded to the holiday.

She took up photography when her grandsons were younger and greatly enjoyed it. There are hundreds of photographs from every event we had. We always knew to be prepared to take pictures whenever she was around. Besides taking pictures of the family she truly loved taking pictures at the lake of the birds, the landscape of the house as they worked at remodeling it. She loved documenting the progress they had made.

Her gardens were renowned for the abundance of blooms and variety she cultivated. She hand built a round rock garden bed to hold her irises and daffodils. She also had forsythias, lilacs, and butterfly bushes around the yard. Her green thumb didn’t end at the yard. She also nurtured a Jade tree that was Loval Dyers (her mother-in-law), that we joked about her having a room just for the tree. It waws so large that the last time she had to repot it, it took 2 men to lift it to the new pot.

She loved the times she was able to travel and explore the world. She travel with her Mom and Dad, her friend Marcy, and her husband Michael. She truly enjoyed learning about the history of new areas. The gardens in England and her family history in Germany. I think the best stories came from her trip to New Orleans.

Recently her travels were mainly to their house at the Lake of the Ozarks. She looked forward to her time there and the time spent in the evenings with her friends and a bottle of wine. Michael always had a fire going.

Oak Grove was her home for many years and the home to 2 of the businesses she was a co-owner in. The first was a tire and mechanic shop. The second was the race shop which led to many nights and weekends spent at the racetrack. She made many friends and associated working that business.

Her love of history led her to genealogy research, which fascinated her. She also found that she had relatives that fought in the revolutionary war, which led her to the Daughters of the American Revolution. She became a member and treasurer and very active in the organization. The Lone Jack Historical Society also became a pastime as she became a docent and acting character in their living history presentation. She was proud of her character and her period outfit she was building. Working with the children there was rewarding to her.

She was a lifelong Christian. She attended and was baptized at the Christian Church of Lee’s Summit; with her young family they attended the First Baptist Church of Oak Grove. Then in recent years it was the Community Bible Church in Chapel Hill.

She will leave many people feeling the loss of her presence. She was a daughter, wife, mother, surrogate mother, grandmother, great grandmother, mother-in-law, boss, friend, and associate to so many people. There will be a void that will be felt in many people’s lives.