BUCKLIN - Irven Gene Ferrin passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 10, 2026, in Shawnee, Kansas, just a year-and-a-half shy of his 100th birthday.

Gene was born on March 23, 1928, in Bucklin, Kansas, to Hollis Ward “Jack” and Erma Levenia Ferrin, the seventh of ten children. Gene graduated from Bucklin High School in 1946, one of 22 graduates that year. As a teenager, Gene took time off each year to plant crops for Charlie Anderson, driving a 1928-era John Deere tractor with steel lugs. He would have to brace his foot on the fender to get enough leverage to turn the tractor.

In 1947, Gene talked his father into purchasing a hardware store in Bucklin, which they named Ferrin & Son Hardware. After Gene’s father died, the name was shortened to Ferrin Hardware.

Gene’s work at “The Hardware” was put on hold on November 8, 1950, when he was inducted into the United States Army in Kansas City, Missouri. He served in Germany, Company B 112 Infantry APO 111, 28th Infantry Division. As a result of his service, he received an Army Occupational Medal and was honorably discharged on October 31, 1952, achieving the rank of Sargeant (T) 22. He continued on, serving in the Army Reserves until October 26, 1956. Gene was a member of the American Legion, Post 269, in Bucklin, KS.

While home for a visit in Bucklin, Katherine Birney and Nola Smith set Gene up on a blind date with Lois Joanne Hess, who had moved to town after getting her teaching credential. The two attended a high school basketball game, with the Red Aces taking on the Kinsley High School Coyotes. Which team won the game may be lost to time, but the date was a win for the team of Gene and Joanne. They married on July 12, 1953, in Joanne’s hometown of Groom, Texas.

After returning to Bucklin, the couple bought a pre-cut home kit, which arrived via train. They built the home on a lot next to Gene’s family home on Oak Street. Years later, Gene used a pickax and shovel to dig out a basement for the home.

Gene and Joanne raised four children, Mona, Brian, Judd, and Gregg at the Oak Street home. The years when the kids were young included summer trips to Cedar Bluff Reservoir, where the family fished and water-skiied. Gene also played a stealthy Santa Claus, sneaking away during Christmas Eve festivities and putting the family’s gifts on the front porch, ringing the doorbell, and returning inside before anyone noticed. He was also brought home many a cardboard appliance box that the kids gleefully used to build forts.

The same year Gene and Joanne married, he went to work as a mechanic at Northern Natural Gas in Mullinville, Kansas. Always resourceful, Gene would heat his lunch by setting his jar of leftovers on the block of one of the facility’s giant compressors.

At the same time, Joanne and Erma ran The Hardware, which included selling appliances. After work, Gene could often be found installing and servicing appliances, and doing plumbing and electrical work. This work brought Gene into almost every home in Bucklin at one time or another. On some of these trips Gene brought along son Brian or Judd to assist.

In 1984, after retiring from Northern Natural Gas, Gene took over farming on his brother Vern’s land in Bucklin. He thoroughly enjoyed raising cattle and tending his Arkansas Black apple trees.

Gene was an avid gardener at home too. An early adopter of composting, he collected the family’s kitchen food scraps and tilled them into his garden, yielding a dark, rich soil in which he planted tomatoes, corn, squash, cucumbers, radishes, and more

Gene enjoyed the simple things in life, such as listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio, making pancakes for the family on Sunday mornings, enjoying a dish of homemade vanilla ice cream or stewed rhubarb, and puttering around the house.

In 2011, after the passing of Joanne, Gene moved to the Kansas City area to be closer to family. But he was always most at home on the windswept plains of Southwestern Kansas, where he will now be laid to rest.

Gene was preceded in death by his parents, and his siblings, Merle, Lucille, Mildred, Vern, Lyle, Nadine, Naomi, Clifford and Annie. He is survived by his children, Mona Stegman of Overland Park, KS, Brian Ferrin of Poway, CA, Judd Ferrin of Olathe, KS, and Gregg Ferrin of Green Cove Springs, FL; two grandchildren, Matt Stegman of Overland Park, KS, and Adam Stegman (Aubrey) and great-granddaughter Ellora, of Ft. Worth, TX.

A memorial service is planned for Thursday, October 15, 2026, in Overland Park Kansas at Legacy Christian Church 10150 Antioch Rd. Overland Park, Kansas at 4 PM. Also planned is a viewing from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, October 16, 2026, at Minnis Mortuary, 214 South Main, Bucklin, KS; and a graveside service with military honors and Pastor Gordy Houser officiating at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at Bucklin Cemetery in Bucklin, KS.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made in Gene’s memory to the American Legion, Post 269, Bucklin, KS, 101 S. Nebraska Ave., Bucklin, KS. 67834.