Alvin Joseph Denning, 95, passed away peacefully Saturday morning in the comfort of his home and the company of his family. Anyone who knew Al could tell you that was the only way he was ever going to leave the “farm” west of Hays, where he and his departed wife, Aletha, built their home over 40 years ago.
Born in Hays in 1929, Al was the oldest of seven children of Alois and Barbara (Dinkel) Denning. He spent his childhood working on the family dairy farm and graduated from Hays High in 1947. He married his sweetheart, Aletha Unrein, in 1950. Al then took on a variety of hard-working jobs, from the oil fields to the quarry to driving trucks, before spending over two decades working at the Hays Post Office.
During that time, Al and Aletha raised seven children together, with their births spanned over 20 years. A man of his generation, Al parented by example, teaching his kids the value of hard work, honesty, humility, kindness to strangers, and taking no shortcuts. He volunteered with the kids’ 4-H clubs, was a fixture at local farmers markets and small-animal auctions, and enjoyed driving his pickup through the countryside, noting the level of Big Creek (always low), pointing out a pretty landscape, stopping to gather a sweet wildflower for Aletha, or suggesting that so-and-so better get that alfalfa baled before it rains.
Since retiring thirty years ago, Al almost never spent a night away from the farm (“Who would collect the eggs?”) and during daylight hours could usually be found outdoors. He had a green thumb, and every spring he would plant an acre-sized garden full of every vegetable he could coax to sprout. He raised all kinds of birds, too, including chickens, doves, quail, guineas, and peacocks, along with rabbits and the occasional sheep or miniature donkey. He loved the sun on his back, the feel of a shovel handle in his hands, and a cold slurp of water from the hose. He valued trees and strategically planted hundreds of them on his farm to block the wind, shade the yard, provide fruit, and add habitats for wildlife. And he really loved when folks would see the Fresh Eggs sign on the highway and stop in to visit. “Let me show you something,” he’d say to the kids, before leading them to peek at chicks hatching in the incubator or the biggest squash you’ve ever seen growing in the garden. Al liked pearl snap shirts, Louis L’Amour novels, Canadian whiskey, Johnny Cash songs, and Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches.
But above all, Al’s pride and joy was his large and loving family, which remains tight knit to this day, despite being spread out geographically. At reunions, surrounded by 75 or 80 family members, Al would beam at Aletha, “Look at what we did! My goodness, look at what we did.” Indeed.
Al is reunited in death with his wife of 71 years, Aletha (2021), his middle child Greg (2008), his parents, two brothers (Lester and Kenny), and two sisters (Dolores Frank and Edna Gustus Hunt).
Al is survived by six children—Tom Denning (Deb) in Hays, Judy Evans (Bob) in Indiana, Margie Hammerschmidt (Elden) in Hays, Dan Denning (Cheryl) in Herington, Kathy Banks (Duane) in Russell, and Roger Denning (Michele) in San Diego—along with his brother, Larry Denning, and sister, Rita Werth Smith. His legacy also includes 21 grandchildren, 53 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass will be held at 2pm Thursday, December 26, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hays. The Mass will be preceded by a memorial visitation at the church from 1:00pm to 2pm. Inurnment will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the 4-H Youth Development, Ellis County. Contributions made payable to the organization may be sent in care of Keithley Funeral Homes and Crematory, 2509 Vine, Hays, KS 67601.
Condolences may be sent to the family on Al’s tribute page at www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com