Kenneth Eugene Hargis

Kenneth Eugene Hargis, 76 of Shawnee, Kansas died December 28, 2023 following a long illness.

Ken was born in Gainesville, Missouri, the child of Wilma & Clarence Hargis. Surviving are his attentive, accepting, and overly-patient wife Rebecca (Becky), children Katie and Zac, grandkids Max, Maya, Ava, and Andrew, and his brother Rob.

He is preceded in death by his parents, his siblings Sandy, Larry, and Joe, several fast cars, and a poorly-mounted basketball goal.

Ken graduated from Galena High School, finding his loving wife Becky there and eventually escaping to Las Vegas for a road trip wedding with good friends in tow. He proudly served his country in the U.S. Navy, serving aboard the USS Arlington during the Viet Nam War.

He retired from Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station after almost three decades of service. While he didn’t attend his own retirement party, we hear it was a joyous time with a lot of cake. And probably an interesting story or two, to boot.

He disliked hurtful people, seemed to enjoy road trips way more than is normal, rarely bought himself new or nice things, and refused to invest any energy to figure out how cellular phones worked. He was a fan of Boston cream pies, White River Fish Market, Slap’s BBQ, and instinctively understood that blue cheese dressing goes with pretty much anything.

He enjoyed a great many things during his life. Among them were fishing, golfing, stinky cigars, George Thorogood, Joe Bonamassa, cold beer, makeshift basketball games in the garage, Alaskan cruises, Clint Eastwood movies, cornbread in milk, old Chevys, the Kansas City Chiefs, Hank Aaron, Chivas Regal, and (more than anything else) his family.

Like all of us, he wasn’t always perfect. He snored. A lot. Thankfully he found a forgiving partner and spouse. Ken & Becky enjoyed 46 years together, a great run by any standard. They came through difficult circumstances and showed our family what it meant to be parents, spouses, and generally good people. We are all fortunate to have learned from them and having been a part of their story.

Tremendous and heartfelt thanks go to the truly exceptional staff at Brookdale College Square in Overland Park and to the good people at HCA Midwest Hospice, who gave us much more than medical care for Ken. They collectively provided a peaceful and compassionate environment for everyone in our family during his journey to the next adventure.

A memorial service will be held at 11am on Friday, January 12, at Amos Family Funeral Home 10901 Johnson Dr. Shawnee, KS 66203.

Memorial donations in Ken’s name can be made to your favorite charity, so long as they don’t support cocker spaniels. He didn’t like that dog much at all.

We love you, Papa, and miss you already.