Owensboro Veteran Faces Tough Health Battle As Community Rallies

Chris Conley, an incredibly well-known local veteran and community servant, received confirmation this week that he has brain tumor. That news was publicly shared Wednesday morning by his stepdaughter, Tristan Taylor.

It has been a crazy couple of days and we have gotten too much, yet not enough info to even begin. Friday we found out that my step dad, Chris, has a large brain tumor. After meeting with the neurosurgeon yesterday, they found out a little more and surgery has been scheduled for June 18th. They will not be able to get the whole tumor and we won’t know what treatment is going to look like until after surgery.

Close friends of Chris and his wife Donna have immediately started rallying the troops. As Barbara Poynter, who worked with Tristan to establish a GoFundMe page for the couple, said, "This man has done so much for others in the community, the community now gets to do something for him."

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Chris is known in a variety of circles in the area. First, he's worked at Kimberly-Clark for decades. Second, he's a dedicated soldier having served multiple tours of duty. Third, he's very involved with a variety of veteran events, including the annual Run for the Fallen.

Chris is also an avid aviation photographer and works at various professional air shows around the country. That's how he and I have gotten to know each other. We've stood together atop the Hampton Inn downtown the last two years to photograph and capture the Owensboro Air Show.

I know Chris and his character and I am going to go out on a limb (or the edge of the Hampton) here. I have no doubts we'll be doing it again when the show returns in 2026.

As a matter of fact, despite his diagnosis, Chris is heading to Tennessee this weekend for the Great Tennessee Air Show in Symrna. There, he'll be reunited with one of his favorite teams to photograph- the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. Over the course of the last few years, Chris has gotten some incredible shots of the Blue Angels in action.

That particular team has already been notified of Chris' condition. They, like the rest of us who are fortunate enough to be able to call him a friend, will do all they can for him as he tackles this new brand of war. The Conleys, their family, and their friends are ready for combat.

As Tristan closed her social media post, "Let's rally around them the way they do for this community."

To donate to Chris' GoFundMe, CLICK HERE!

**Update- Chris is undergoing surgery today (Wednesday, June 18th).**