Galen Billings

Funeral Mass for Galen A. Billings, 83, Kansas City, Kan., will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 1086 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kan. Burial will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Paxico, Kan.
Mr. Billings died Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008.
He was born Jan. 22, 1925, on a farm in Willard, Kan., the son of Merrill and Nora Mearle Riley Billings. He graduated from Rossville High School in 1942 and worked for a year for the Santa Fe Railway before joining the Navy during World War II. He was a radio operator on a P.B.M. for three years before returning home.
Mr. Billings then worked briefly at Santa Fe again before beginning a 33-year career at Appreciated Advertising in Kansas City, Kan., retiring in 1987.
Galen’s favorite past time was spending time with his family. While his children competed, he attended and coached countless little league, high school and college baseball and football games.
He married Virginia Karnowski on Nov. 27, 1947, in Topeka, Kan.
Survivors include six children; Don, Gary, David, Kenneth, Susan and Kevin; and seven grandchildren.
Friends may call from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. before services at the church.