Robert Stanley Drake, Jr., age 87, of Springfield, Missouri, formerly of Warsaw, passed away Thursday, November 13, 2025, at his home. He was born on Friday, January 21, 1938, at the family home in Warsaw, the son of Robert Stanley Drake and Maurine Kathryn Martin Drake. He grew up in Warsaw and graduated from Warsaw High School in 1956. He enjoyed scouting, attaining the rank of Life Scout, and was involved with 4-H for a number of years.
In the fall of 1957, he started at Drury College and joined the Lambda Chi Alpha social fraternity, where he held the office of secretary for two years. After graduating from Drury in the spring of 1960, he enrolled in the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia and graduated in 1963.
On December 23, 1960, he was married to Marylin Elizabeth Roark at the Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Unto this union, three children were born.
In September of 1963, after passing the Missouri Bar exam, he began practicing law. He served as the Prosecuting Attorney of Benton County for twelve years, and for several other years as the City Attorney for the cities of Warsaw and Lincoln. He retired in 2007 after forty-five years of practice. That same year, on May 25th, he was married to Wenyan Liu in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and they continued to live in Warsaw until moving to Springfield in July of 2009. Soon after, Wenyan’s daughter, Elaine Lu, came from China to live with them and attended Drury University.
Bob was a member of the Warsaw First Baptist Church. He was a volunteer firefighter for the Warsaw Fire Department for many years, a member of the Cole Camp Camera Club, and a member of the Warsaw Lions Club, where he served twice as President. He was also active in the Benton County Historical Society. He enjoyed photography from a young age and always had a camera nearby. He was a faithful blood donor and was a member of the Gallons Club because of his many donations. He enjoyed astronomy and even built his own telescope. Bob loved history and traced his family lineage back to its crest. He also enjoyed the study of the Civil War and regularly attended meetings of a Civil War club in Springfield. He loved taking vacations and trout fishing at Bennett Spring. He also cherished his time spent in Nicaragua and helped and supported an adopted and special family there. He assisted in the care for the family and helped three of the children to obtain college degrees.
Bob is survived by his wife, Wenyan Liu Drake, of the home; four children, Bob Drake III (Mary) of Springfield, Missouri, Beth Drake of Warsaw, Susan Johnson (Ralph) of Lincoln, and Elaine Lu Jiang (Yifan) of Texas. He is also survived by eight grandchildren—Scott Drake (Kelly), Zach Hixson, Erika Manford, Andrea Kauffman (Jordan), Dwaine Johnson, Alex Johnson, Eli Jiang and Neo Jiang—nine great-grandchildren, two great-great-granddaughters; a brother, Jim Drake (Joan) of Warsaw; and a sister, Ann Breshears of Warsaw.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Reser Funeral Home in Warsaw. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service, from 10:00 until 11:00 A.M.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Benton County Historical Society, the Warsaw Lions Club, or Riverside Cemetery.
