ELKHART – Gene Coen, 54,  died Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, at Morton County Hospital in Elkhart.

He was born May 19, 1958, to Kelvin and Geraldine (Meredith) Coen in Lincoln, Neb.

He married Vickie E. Merklin May 9, 1982, in Liberal. She survives.

He was a graduate of Elkhart High School.  He also graduated from Liberal Area Vo-Tech where he studied automotive repair.

He was previously employed by Chaparral Energy, LLC as a pumper.  He had also worked at John Deere and Riley Chevrolet as a mechanic, USD 218 as a mechanic and transportation director.

He enjoyed drag racing, the Mud Run at the fair, computer work, cars and farming.

Other survivors include his mother, Geraldine Coen, Elkhart;  two sons, Brandon Coen and wife, Jessica, Woodward, Okla., Wesley Coen and Courtney Crawford, Elkhart; two daughters, Wendy Coen-Caldwell and Michael Archer, Guymon, Okla., and Heather Lafond and husband, Jonathon, Elkhart; one brother, Tim Coen and wife, Debbie, Elkhart; two sisters, Teresa Overpeck and husband, Don, Elkhart, and Cindy Ewing and husband, Allen Guymon; and eight grandchildren Brylan, Takoda, Cooper, Brandy, Pierce, Elijah, Shawn and Paisley.

He was preceded in death by his father and his grandparents, Verl and Ethel Coen and Millard Meredith.

• Graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Elkhart Cemetery, with Pastor Keith Davis presiding.

Friends may call until 8 p.m. today at Garnand Funeral Home in Elkhart.

Memorials are suggested to the Morton County Mud Run in care of Garnand Funeral Home, 514 Kansas Ave., Elkhart, KS 67950.