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Obituary On July 13th, 11:05 pm, at Jefferson Health Care of Lee's Summit, where he had been for the past five months, the Lord decided it was time to take Dennie home with him, taking away the pain and discomfort of the last several years, leaving behind his wife Marilyn, sons Steve (Shelly), Mark (Stephanie), grandsons Zack (Erica), Sawyer (Stephanie), Dalton, Boone, Parker, Harrison, granddaughter Katie, and two great grandchildren, Jayden, Codi Rae, sister Margaret (Duane) Kirkpatrick of Johnston, IA, numerous extended family and friends. Dennis was born June 8, 1940 in Superior, Nebraska to Howard and Vivian (Thompson) Caples. As a very young boy, his family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. And as a young man, he worked for Parks and Recreation while attending Lincoln High School and "hanging" around with his friends. They enjoyed working on their cars, and formed the car club, Lincoln Road Runners; where on weekends they drag raced on the Lincoln Air Force Base air strip. Dennie graduated from high school in 1958 and went to the University of Nebraska. He later joined his family who had moved to Des Moines and began working part-time at the Safeway store, while attending Drake University. It was on a blind date when he met his future bride, Marilyn Wingfield of Ogden, Iowa. They were married April 9, 1961 and four years later welcomed their first born son, Steve, and two years later, son Mark. His career with Safeway was advancing and he was made assistant manager at the age of 21. At the age of 29, he was promoted to manager of his first store in Perry, Iowa, where he moved his family for one and a half years before going back to Des Moines to manage several other stores. Although he worked long hours (often 12-16 hours per day). Dennie always had time to spend with his sons; playing football in the front yard with all the neighbor kids, going fishing and just spending as much time as possible with his family, which was most important to him. In one of his "spare" moments, he decided that he wanted to fly, so in 1965 he went to Iowa Aviation in Des Moines and took flying lessons and obtained his private pilot's license. After moving to Independence, Missouri, he joined a flying club in Grain Valley where he was part owner of a Cessna 172. In 1976, he moved his family to Independence to work for Little Debbie Snack Cakes as district manager. He had a large territory and traveled a lot, but loved his job, and was still able to spend more time with his family than before. He was home on weekends and holidays; which never had happened working with Safeway. It was a good life. Six months into his marriage, Dennie had an episode where his legs were giving him a lot of trouble walking, so he went to a neurologist in Des Moines and was diagnosed with a peripheral nerve disorder. After moving to Independence many years later, he was again experiencing problems with his legs and sought help. After being hospitalized for a week in 1985, he was diagnosed with MS, forcing him to retire at an early age of 45. Since he had time on his hands, he decided to take real estate classes and earned his realtor's license; a life accomplishment that he unfortunately did not put to use. In life he enjoyed electronics, working on and repairing computers, old radios, and woodworking. One joy of his was helping his grandsons create projects in his woodworking shop. He was a devoted husband and father, seldom thinking of himself, but rather putting his family first. He was incredibly proud of his sons and grandchildren and loved being involved in everything they were doing. His oldest grandson said the one thing he remembers "Pops" telling him about woodworking was "never get blood on the wood!" Despite his health problems, Dennie was always positive and smiling, never complaining or feeling sorry for himself. He lived life to the fullest and enjoyed time with his family which meant everything to him. After 56 years of marriage, Marilyn had to say "goodbye" to the love of her life. He is missed terribly everyday by his wife, sons, and family. We know he is watching over us and someday we will join him. Rest in peace, my love.
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