Kenyon Earl Gross, 1936-2026
You can view the obituary listing at https://www.flannerbuchanan.com/obituaries/kenyon-ken-gross. Here’s the text:
Kenyon “Ken” Earl Gross, Jan 31, 1936 — Oct 24, 2026
Kenyon Earl Gross was born Kenyon Donovan Bateman on January 31, 1936 in Ozark Missouri to Lilly Elizabeth Solon and Otho Richard Bateman. Lilly and Ortho were both deaf and had met each other as students at the School for the Deaf. Kenyon was the second of the Bateman’s four children: Lorraine, Kenyon, Ravenna and Jolene. Ortho was a shoe repairman and used to put the lead nails in his mouth as he worked. He developed blood poisoning and died when Kenyon was four years old. Kenyon’s mother Lilly had a hard time financially after losing her husband and after a few years the two older children were placed in the Methodist Children’s home in Newton Kansas. The younger two children were also removed from Lily’s care. Kenyon and his sister Lorainne were in the children’s home for about a year when a couple, Nina Mae Vincent and Earl Gross, picked them up on their way home from spending Christmas with their family. Nina and Earl formally adopted the children March 3 1944. It was then that Kenyon’s middle and last names changed to those of his adopted father.
The Gross family lived in Bucklin Kansas, a town of about 800 people. Earl was a wheat farmer and Nina a teacher. Kenyon grew up working on the farm. After graduating high school, Kenyon went to Fort Hays State College for a year, then enlisted in the Navy and served 2 years on an aircraft carrier. After the navy, he returned to college at Kansas State University and majored in mathematics. After college he taught math in the Shawnee Mission school district in Overland Park Kansas. He then changed careers to become a COBOL computer programmer. While working as a programmer at a boy’s school in Topeka Kansas, he met Fred Cairns who introduced him to the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. Kenyon eventually moved to Greenleaf where Fred and his family lived raising worms on a worm farm. Fred and Kenyon had many conversations about the principles of the Baha’i Faith. Often while Fred was talking about Baha’i teachings, Ken would think of a question related to what Fred had just said and soon thereafter Fred would answer Ken’s question. This happened repeatedly. Kenyon had long thought he did not like organized religion. He already believed in the abolishment of prejudice of all kinds, so that wasn’t a new idea for him. He was attracted to the manner in which Baha’i elections were conducted. Eventually Kenyon decided to join the Baha’i Faith which he did in August 1973. A tornado passed through the worm farm in Greenleaf and Ken needed to find a new way to support himself. He soon found work in Omaha.
Kenyon moved to Council Bluffs Iowa in 1974 and was the ninth member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Council Bluffs. He was immediately elected its treasurer. He was also a mentor in the Big Brother Big Sisters of the Midlands organization and in Optimist International. On July 29 1979 Kenyon married Loree Foroughi. Kenyon and Loree hyphenated their last names because two of Loree’s four children were minors living at home. Kenyon became stepfather to Loree’s four children. During their marriage, they lived in several cities and towns in the Midwest: Council Bluffs Iowa, Muscatine Iowa, Bellevue Nebraska, Kansas City Missouri, Kansas City Kansas. Ken served as the treasurer of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Kansas City Kansas for sixteen years. He and Loree were active in the Baha’i community of Kansas City, assisting with the annual Race Unity Day picnic and hosting Sunday pancake breakfasts for fellowship and study. After retirement, the two lived in Tianjin China for six years teaching English to college age students. They experienced the Chinese students as fun loving and often spoke warmly of the friends they made there. They returned to Overland Park Kansas once Loree was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2008 and then moved to Indianapolis Indiana in 2015 to be closer to family. Kenyon and Loree were married for 46 years until Loree’s death in July 2025.
Kenyon was a punster, an amateur astronomer and an avid student of nutrition. He loved jazz music and the cartoon Pogo. He is survived by his half-brother Jerry Spruell of Wichita Kansas.
