Donald "Joe" Pugh

Donald Joe Pugh, 75, of Lee’s Summit, lost his earthly battle but gained his heavenly wings when he died November 26,2020, after a short hospital stay where he fought COVID and complications due to cancer. In fact, Joe courageously fought four different types of cancer over the past 17 years: bladder, leukemia, prostate and multiple myeloma. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lee’s Summit; burial immediately following in Mound Grove Cemetery, Sugar Creek.
Joe was born March 9, 1945 to Moss and Dorothy (Thurman) Pugh in Fulton County, Kentucky. Joe had very few memories of his mother, since she died when he was only five years old. He lived in Kentucky until after his 1964 graduation from Heath High School in Paducah. He followed a brother to Kansas City seeking a job and initially worked for a tow service. Joe served as a reserve police officer for the city of Sugar Creek, where a fellow police officer introduced him to Elizabeth Susan Topi, who lived in Sugar Creek, and the two were married in June 1965. They were married for 49 years. He also worked for Brinks. He was a truck driver for Consolidated Freight, first in Kansas City, and later in St. Louis, before retiring after driving three million accident-free miles. The couple moved back to Kansas City in 2013 to be near her family. Joe’s passion was his wife, children, and grandchildren.
His family and friends will miss his warm, friendly smile and compassionate nature. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; a brother and sister-in law David (Theresa) Pugh; a son, Jared Pugh; a daughter-in-law, Melissa Pugh; and a sister-in-law, Joyce Pugh. He leaves a brother, Ralph Pugh of Independence; a sister, Carolyn Cochran of Woodbridge, Virginia; his dog, Izzie, who was his beloved partner-in-crime; a daughter, Susan (Mike) Spaw of the home; a son, Joseph Daniel Pugh of Monroe City, Mo.; a daughter-in-law Khrys Pugh of Bucyrus, Kansas; brothers and sisters-in-law, Steve Topi, Mike Topi, Joe (Mary) Topi, Linda (Chris) Heman; John “Tom” (Debbie) Topi, Mary Ann (Art) Wegener and Martin (Regina) Topi; six grandchildren: Treavor (Merri) Pugh of Monroe City; Travis (Alex) Pugh of Hannibal; Tyler (Emily) Pugh of Columbia; Tanner Pugh of Monroe City, Rain and Elias Pugh of Bucyrus, Kansas; seven great grandchildren: Tommy, Jayson, Jordan, Hadley, Alex, Jackson and Holdon; and numerous nieces and nephews, including Kim (Cary) Loesing, Kurt Pugh, Jeffrey (Peggy) Pugh, Steven (Kristina) Pugh.