Gerald “Jerry” Buening, DVM, PhD, a former faculty member of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, passed away at his home in Columbia on Sept. 22, 2021. Buening completed his DVM degree at Purdue University in 1964, where he also earned a PhD in 1969. Upon his graduation, Buening joined the CVM as a faculty member in veterinary pathobiology, where he remained until his retirement in 2002. After his initial appointment as a faculty member, Buening served the college as the chair of the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology and continued his service part time through 2005.
After his retirement from the college, Buening became an active participant with Habitat for Humanity, an organization focused on building and improving houses for people to call home and promoting the importance of affordable housing. Buening also took up several hobbies including weaving, woodworking, carving, tie-dying, and pottery. His family members remember him as a very kind and loving husband, father and grandfather, as well as a talented artist, and display many of his creations around their houses.
Buening is survived by his wife, Carolyn, whom he married on Aug. 2, 1964; children, Vincent (Delfina) Buening of Pinckney, Michigan, and Lisa Londeree of St. Louis; brothers, Steve (Marlene) Buening and Ed Buening; and grandchildren, Dorothy and Edward Buening and Suzanne and Kathryn Londeree. He was preceded in death by his parents and sisters, Toni Schwering and Mary Ann Schwering.
The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, at Memorial Funeral Home in Columbia with burial to follow in Memorial Park Cemetery. Friends may gather at the funeral home from 10-11 a.m. before the service.
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