OSAGE CITY, Kan. – William ‘Bill’ Ray Trueblood, 77, passed away Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, at Osage Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Osage City, Kan. He was born Oct. 13, 1939, in Barclay, Kan., the son of Claude L. and Ellen Marconett Trueblood.

Bill attended Osage City High School and graduated with the class of 1957. He later attended Emporia State Teachers College. Bill joined the Kansas National Guard in 1960. After serving for 30 years he retired as a master sergeant in 1990. Bill farmed his entire life in the Barclay area. He began working for the Kansas Department of Transportation as an engineer in January 1961. His work took him throughout eastern Kansas. Bill retired with 40 years of service in 2001. He put his vast experience to work as a private consultant on numerous highway and construction projects until his second retirement in 2009.

Bill shared his love of agriculture with youth of the area and served as leader for the Willing Workers 4-H Club for several years. He enjoyed a lifelong love of fishing and served as a judge for countless barbecue competitions. Bill had been a member of the Osage City Lions Club in past years.

He was joined in marriage to Shirley Scott on Sept. 4, 1960, in Osage City. They later divorced.

He will live on in the hearts of his daughter, Crystal Sixbury and her husband, Dan, of Lenexa, Kan.; sons, William “Scott” Trueblood, Osage City, and Brent Trueblood, Reading, Kan.; grandchildren, Austin Trueblood, Andrew Trueblood, Blake Trueblood and Jackson Trueblood Sixbury; and great-granddaughter, Reagan Trueblood.

A celebration of Bill’s life will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 24, at VanArsdale Funeral Chapel, Osage City. Inurnment will follow services at Barclay Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research at K-State, or the Wounded Warriors Project, and sent in care of VanArsdale Funeral Chapel, 107 N. Sixth St., Osage City, KS 66523. Condolences may be expressed at vanarsdalefs.com.