Bill B. Hargrove, 89, Huron, Kansas passed away on September 18, 2015 after devoting a lifetime to farming in Atchison County, Kansas.

A celebration of Bill’s life will be Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. at Effingham Union Church with Pastor Jeff Cochran officiating.   Burial will follow in the Evergreen Cemetery, Effingham, Kansas.  The family will greet friends Wednesday, September 23rd from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. at Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home in Atchison, Kansas.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Effingham Union Church, Effingham, Kansas and may be sent in care of the funeral home.  Words of comfort for the family may be left online at www.arensbergpruett.com.

Bill, a fourth generation farmer, was born March 18, 1926 on the Hargrove family farm, north of Effingham, Kansas to Charles and Bernice (Dayton) Hargrove.  He lived his entire life in Atchison County, attended the Atchison County Community Schools in Effingham.

In his early grade school years, Bill was known by all in the Effingham community riding his pony named Tony along with his twin brother, Dick and cousin, Glen Hargrove, with their ponies to elementary school on Main Street in downtown Effingham.

As a young boy, Bill worked on the family farm alongside his Dad and twin brother, Dick.  When he got older, Bill worked tirelessly doing a variety of other work, including putting up hay on the Sternsdorf farm as well as pitched bundles of wheat on the Oscar Noll farm, near Effingham.  While a youth, he worked in the government caves in Atchison unloading potatoes.  A couple of other winters, he worked with Henry Kautz installing furnaces, electric and water lines for customers in Kansas and Nebraska.  Bill pumped gas and washed cars at Foster’s gas station, east of Effingham.  He grew up attending the Effingham Christian church.

In 1951, Bill married Helen Pickering Kenny of Denver, Missouri at the Atchison Methodist Church.  Bill and Helen started their married life farming in the Shannon community.  In 1961, Bill and Helen, along with their family, relocated to a farm east of Huron, Kansas and farmed raising cattle, hogs, chickens and row crops until Helen’s death on October 1, 2006.  Together, Bill and Helen were school bus drivers for USD #377 for fifteen years.

In January 2008, Bill married Mary Zeltner Hopkins.  She survives.

Bill will be remembered as a hardworking, ambitious and very frugal farmer.  He enjoyed the simple life on the Hargrove farm, where he has resided for over fifty years.  Annually, he looked forward to taste testing a Thanksgiving dish, homemade dressing known as Uncle Bob’s “gumwaddin”, prepared for the Hargrove Thanksgiving meal held at Huron.

Bill was preceded in death by his first wife, Helen Hargrove; twin brother, Dick Hargrove; his parents, paternal grandparents, Reuben and Della Pruett Hargrove; maternal grandparents, George and Mary Rhoades Dayton, all of Effingham.

Those left to cherish Bill’s memories are his son, Tim (Janet) Hargrove of Columbus, IN; a daughter, Debbie Hargrove Segars (Dr. Bob Fast), of Atchison, KS; two step-sons Jim (Nancy) Kenny of Palmdale, CA and John (Darlene) Kenny of Denver, MO; six grandchildren, Joshua (Farah) Hargrove, Jason (Susie) Harden, Jeffrey (Kelli) Hargrove, Dr. Tim (Pam) Hargrove, John-Stephen (Alex) Hargrove, Brooke (Tab) Harden Lardner; seven step-grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren; a sister-in-law, Bonnie Hargrove, Atchison; two nieces, Jackie (Ron) Hargrove Porter-Teare, Yukon, OK and Vickie (Dave) Hargrove Swiercinsky, Wellington, FL; four first cousins, Shirley Snyder Driscoll, Tallahassee, FL, Max Hargrove, Rushville, MO; Glen Hargrove and Geraldine Hargrove Wohlgemuth of Effingham, KS.