Barry Keith Doane, age 79, was born July 31, 1943, in Beloit, Kansas to Ralph and Eileen Doane, and passed away peacefully from this life to be with his Lord and Savior on Sunday, November 27, 2022, at his farm near Downs, Kansas.
The oldest of four sons, Keith grew up northwest of Downs, Kansas and lived in the area his whole life. During his early years growing up on the family farm he discovered the joy of his lifelong passion for farming at an early age. The family farm was typical of the area during the post-war era raising wheat, feed crops, dairy and beef cows, hogs, and chickens. Playing ball with his brothers, tending the livestock, riding horses and swimming in the farm ponds were some of his formative experiences, together with the seeds of faith that were sown by the family through their regular participation in the Rose Valley United Methodist Church.
He attended the Downs public schools from elementary through high school. During high school he was active in sports, especially enjoying football, and the FFA vocational agriculture programs, earning his State Farmer degree. Graduating high school in 1961 he enlisted in the Kansas Army National Guard and attended basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He was later trained in munitions at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground receiving the highest honors in his class. He served six months active duty and four years in total from 1961-1965 in the Kansas National Guard as the Vietnam War was intensifying.
Keith started his farming pursuits while he was still in high school, renting cropland from his grandfather and purchasing a John Deere Model A tractor. He continued farming under the mentorship of his parents, grandparents, and other area farmers after high school before graduating from the Kansas State University short agricultural course in 1965. As his brothers returned to the area, and they all farmed together for many years sharing equipment and chores while they each eventually started and managed their own farms in the Osborne County area. During this time, Keith served as a youth leader at the Rose Valley church and was active in Kansas Farm Bureau.
On June 2, 1972, Keith was married to Marsha Jean Dibble, the youngest daughter of Everette and Dorothy Dibble of Alton, Kansas. They would go on to celebrate 50 years of marriage while raising four sons and farming together through good times and bad. She shared fully in his enthusiasms, and they jointly provided a stable family environment focused on farm chores, church, education, community service, sports, and hunting – not necessarily in that order.
Keith’s farming career spanned over 65 years and saw significant technological changes. As a young boy he drove a team of horses raking hay and cultivating crops. As times changed, he embraced new farming techniques such as no-till planting, precision management and GPS guided equipment to improve the farming operation. He was talented mechanically and a continuous learner who enjoyed the challenge of repairing equipment even more so than running it. He almost always had livestock in his care starting when he was gifted a heifer calf at the age of seven and through to the cattle herd that is still on the farm today. Soil conservation was always a priority for Keith and his often-stated goal was to pass along his farms in better condition than when he received them. He was awarded the Kansas Bankers Association Award for Soil Conservation in 2012 and 2019. Keith and Marsha were recognized as a Century Farm by Kansas Farm Bureau in 2020 and as a Kansas Master Farm Family by K-State Extension in 2021. Keith and Marsha achieved their goal of passing the farm operation to their family and their associates operating today as Doane Family Farms and Legacy Farm Partners.
Keith was always active and interested in community affairs. He served on the USD 272 school board for fourteen years, including President of the board for five years. He also served in volunteer leadership for Kansas State University Extension, Kansas Farm Management Association, ASCS/FSA Committee, Osborne County 4-H and Fair Board and the Centennial Village Housing Board. Always interested in other cultures, Keith and Marsha hosted three AFS foreign exchange students in their home – Antonio Tejada (1989-90), Tomoko Murakami (1992), and Yuri Konukov (1995-96).
Keith enjoyed time away from the farm with two primary hobbies. He raised and sold Muscovy ducks as a youngster, allowing him to raise enough money to buy his first shotgun. Always eager to go hunting, he forged lifelong friendships as they pursued their quarry. He delighted in organizing local pheasant and deer hunts with neighbors and reveled in the storytelling of hunts from the past. His other love was flying. He became a small aircraft pilot in 1989, flew a Cessna 150 and enjoyed attending airshows and talk to other pilots.
Anybody who knew Keith well understood his faith walk was the most central and organizing aspect of his life. He was a lifelong member of Rose Valley and served in numerous service and leadership roles there over his lifetime. He also took a great deal of interest in spreading God’s written word, serving actively in Gideon’s International. One of his favorite activities was organizing and attending the Downs Men’s Prayer breakfast every other Saturday morning, an ecumenical gathering that he would often utilize to introduce men to the community of faith.
Keith is survived by his loving wife Marsha who cared for him until his last day following a long battle with cancer. He is also survived by his four sons – Michael Doane (Julie) of Parkville, Missouri; Rodney Doane (Lindsey) of Alton, Kansas; Brett Doane (Chandra) of Downs, Kansas; and Craig Doane (Shawna) of Downs, Kansas; three brothers – Brent Doane (Linda) of Portis, Kansas; Gary Doane (Glennys) of Downs, Kansas; and Steve Doane (Heidi) of Downs, Kansas; and twelve grandchildren – Madison (Alex), Sarah and Weston, Morgan, Ean, Krina, Reed, Sophia, Cohen, Emmett, Amelia and Briggs; and a multitude of cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws and special friends of the family.
A visitation service will be held at on Wednesday, November 30 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Rose Valley United Methodist Church 107 County 685 Avenue, Downs, Kansas. The funeral and celebration of life will be held on Thursday, December 1 at 10 a.m., also at Rose Valley.
In lieu of flowers, the family request memorials be sent to Gideons International and the Osborne County Memorial Hospital in care of Domoney Funeral Home PO Box 127, 817 Morgan Ave, Downs, Kansas 67437.
The family would like to thank the many healthcare workers who supported Keith including Dr. Barbara Brown-Applegate, the staff of Osborne County Hospital, the MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Hospice of Northwest Kansas.