Maurice Sloan

Maurice Lynn Sloan, youngest child of Harold and Annetta (Day) Sloan was born January 9, 1929 on a farm east of Colby. He departed his earthly life to be with his Lord and Savior at Hays Medical Center on December 27, 2014 at the age of 85. He attended Colby Schools, graduating in 1947. In 1950 he married the love of his life, Vera Klaurens, who shared his love of life on the farm. As a boy he loved the freedom of being a farm kid, especially riding horses, herding cattle and riding out across open lands. He grew up to become a good farmer and stockman and took pride in the homestead. He was awarded the Soil Conservation Bankers Award for good farming practices in 1973. He always found something to keep him busy, and loved to build things from wood working to welding. He designed and built a piece of farm equipment which he used until he left the farm in 1987. As a young man he loved to run. He would pace himself when he saw the school bus come over the hill. He would start running and be there to catch a ride to school by the time it got to the road leading to the farm which was a quarter of a mile. He trained with determination and earned a spot to represent his school in the quarter mile run in his senior year, where he placed 6th in the state in spite of being sick with strep throat and 102 degree fever. He held the school’s record for time in the quarter mile for 14 years after graduation. Thus, he was a very proud grandpa when twin grandsons both became All American runners for Nebraska Wesleyan University, and was especially thrilled to be able to travel to Wisconsin to see them run in a National event. He was a quiet man with a genuine faith in God which he instilled in his children, and he always had time to do a good deed. He was blessed with a beautiful singing voice and would leave the harvest field or planting field long enough to sing for a funeral. After a few years, he began keeping the funeral cards of those he had sang for and when he could no longer commit, the count was 128. He willingly shared his voice with his church for over 50 years and never refused a request to sing. He was a gentle and loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. He was a good neighbor and a good friend. He was preceeded in death by his parents, Harold and Annetta (Day) Sloan, a brother Harlan Sloan, and sisters Juanita Sloan Friesen and Martha Sloan Hearson. He leaves his wife of 64 years, sons Randy (Sherry) Sloan, Dorrance, KS.; Bruce (Connie) Sloan, Azle, Tx.; Nanci (Dennis) Dye, Hebron, Ne. and Lynda (Don) Schneider of Bennington, Ks.; eight grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren; a sister-in-law, Marie Kriss of Denver, and a host of nieces, nephews and friends. He will be missed by all.