Duane Raymond Gasper

Duane Raymond Gasper

Duane Raymond Gasper, 72, Hays, died Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at Ellis Good Samaritan Society after a long battle with diabetes.

He was born on October 4, 1950, in Beloit, Kansas, to Raymond and LaVerna (Henke) Gasper and grew up on the family farm near Tipton.  He graduated from Tipton High School in 1968 and from Kansas State University in 1972.  He got his start in business in college while working at the first Vista Drive In, then a new and popular hamburger restaurant in Manhattan that is still going strong today.  On November 29, 1975 he married Jaxine Bushyhead in Jay, Oklahoma, and they made their home in Grove, Oklahoma for most of their married life.  He was a member of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Grove and the Knights of Columbus.  For several years Duane worked as a custom wheat harvester and in retail business before starting a longtime career as an over-the-road truck driver.  He delivered merchandise to 48 states over a 20-year-span before his retirement.  Duane loved watching sports on TV and grew to cheer for Oklahoma athletics while living there, but he always remained an avid fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, the KC Royals, and everything Kansas State.  After his wife's death in 2011, he moved to Hays to be nearer to family.  He later moved to the Ellis Good Samaritan Society, where he enjoyed playing cards and bingo and visiting with staff and fellow residents.

Survivors include his two sisters, Barb Turner and friend Dave Marshall of Bettendorf, IA and Diane Gasper-O'Brien and husband Rex of Hays; three nephews, Travis Turner and wife Kim, Drew O'Brien, and Brody Pfannenstiel; and his wife's siblings, Jack Bushyhead Jr., Lou Ella Weirich, Charlotte Earnest, Leona Forrester and Sarah Watts. 

He was preceded in death by his wife, parents, parents-in-law, Jack and Freda Bushyhead; a nephew, Reid O'Brien; and brothers-in-law Rick Turner, John Bushyhead and Jesse Bushyhead.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 2:00 pm on Monday, May 8, 2023 at St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church, 2901 E. 13th, Hays, with Father Damian Richards and Father Dana Clark officiating.  The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. until service time at the church.  Recitation of the Rosary will be at 1:30.  Private family inurnment will be at a later date in Duffield Cemetery in Jay, Oklahoma.  Memorials are suggested to the Ellis Good Samaritan Society or for masses.  Services are in the care of Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home.  Condolences and memories of Duane may be shared with his family at www.haysmemorial.com

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