Gary Allan Inman, 77, of Concordia, MO, passed away Saturday, August 16, 2025, at the University of Kansas Health System after a hard fought six year battle with skin cancer.
He was born on January 2, 1948, in Independence, and was the son of the late Charles Allan Inman and Earline Elizabeth Snedeger Inman. He attended school in the Fort Osage School District where he excelled at baseball and football. In March of 1961, the family bought a farm at the south edge of Concordia, and Gary then attended Concordia High School, graduating in 1965. The friendships he made during his high school years with his classmates lasted a lifetime. While in high school, their winning basketball teams, coached by Artie Elwell, left a lifelong impression on Gary’s life.
At the first Concordia High School homecoming dance in October of 1965, he managed to talk Carol Reinwald into letting him take her home, and on their second date, he told her that he was going to marry her someday. That day was 18 months later on April 1, 1967. In July of 1969, their daughter, Robin Leanne was born. Gary and Carol dreamed of owning their own land, and after several starts and stops, they moved to their present acreage in January of 1984.
Even from his youth to adulthood, Gary never lost his love of sports. He was a 1st rate catcher for the Ban Johnson baseball teams in Lexington and Marshall from 1964-1968, and was being scouted for a professional team. In 1969 and 1970, he was the catcher on the Hallmark Cards 1st place teams, and played town team basketball until the age of 40. Ever the sportsman, he learned to play a reasonable game of golf and was thoroughly humiliated the year he and Carol each played for the country club championship. She won, but he didn’t. Dirt track racing was always a big part of Gary’s life as his uncle, Red Snedeger, ran at Lakeside and Riverside while he was growing up. He worked in the pits for Dave Meyer for many years and then just enjoyed watching Dave and Brian Meyer run at Central Missouri Speedway and State Fair Speedway. Many nights he enjoyed a piece of red velvet cake after the races (if you know, you know).
In 1993, on a trip to Colorado, Gary and Carol’s car experienced a cracked radiator near the Leadville Mines. The tow truck driver dropped them off at the local Amoco service station where the owner, Ed Acre, then took it upon himself to find one for a price that he thought was reasonable. An hour long trip to Denver led to those men trying to outdo each other with comments and hopes of seeing elk, up close, which happened. From then on, Gary’s first love was elk hunting, only for a cow, and enjoying the tasty butchered meat. Each year he applied for a tag, in the most difficult area of the Leadville/Twin Lakes Region, and was awarded 7 times with 6 elk taken. He felt nothing was more satisfying than staying in Ed’s cabin with no water or electricity and Carol learning to cook on a wood stove. The cabin was renamed the Acre-Inman piece of Heaven.
Gary’s work ethic that he learned as a youth never left. He expected work to be done in a timely manner and as perfect as one could make it. In the 1980’s, Gary bought a dump truck and went to work hauling asphalt with his brother-in-law, Buddy Reinwald. Eventually this led to a road tractor and grain trailer, hauling for many local farmers. He ended his trucking career hauling grain for the local MFA business.
Gary is survived by his wife of 58 ½ years, Carol; daughter, Robin Kerksiek (Tim) of Concordia; granddaughter, Elizabeth Louise Pettit (Rev. Joshua) of Clermont, FL; grandson, Michael Niemeier (Emily) of LaMonte; Tim’s sons, Bill Kerksiek of LaMonte and Ben Kerksiek of Cole Camp; great-grandchildren: Katherine, Natalie, Amelia, Josiah, Rhett, Caroline, Magnolia and Charlotte. He also leaves four younger brothers: Fred Inman (Lorraine), Pat Inman (Dee) and Curt Inman (Cheryl), all of Concordia, and Stan Inman (Debbie) of Sedalia; as well as many other family members and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brother-in-law, Buddy Reinwald; two very close friends, Ken Renno, and the man who threw the most pitches at his catcher’s glove, Dennis Droege.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, August 22, 2025, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Concordia with Pastors Michael Pottschmidt and Andrew Lehenbauer officiating. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home in Concordia. In lieu of flowers, the family request that memorials be made to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Saint Paul Lutheran High School or Lafayette County Cancer Coalition. An online guestbook is available at www.campbell-lewis.com.
Gary’s remains will be spread around a huge rock in Mt. Elbert, CO, where he stood when elk hunting.