Farris Eugene “Gene” Claxton, 89, of Springfield, MO, passed away Saturday, October 27, 2012, in the Missouri Veterans Home, Mount Vernon, MO after a long illness. Gene was preceded in death by his father and mother, Odus and Amy (Neill) Claxton, his wife Shirley (Morris) Claxton and sister Fern Robb.

Gene is survived by his brother, Sam Claxton and wife Mary of Nixa, several nieces, nephews, and cousins. He will be deeply missed by Sam, Mary and their children. Also, he will be missed by his many friends, including his church family at Woodland Heights Presbyterian Church where he was a long-time faithful member.

Gene was born August 31, 1923 in Dallas County, MO but spent his childhood years in Springfield and graduated from Senior High School in 1941. He loved playing basketball, baseball, softball, table tennis and hanging out at the YMCA. If he could not be found at the “Y” he would be working at his mother’s restaurant on Jefferson Ave. in downtown Springfield. He was an original member of the “Knothole Gang.” They were young fans of the St. Louis Cardinals farm team at White City Park in Springfield.

After high school, Gene worked for Western Electric, a subsidiary of AT&T, for one year prior to joining the Army and started training as an Army Air Force cadet in Idaho. When the program had more trainees than needed, he was reassigned along with hundreds of other cadets. His reassignment was to the Army Signal Corps, coordinating all phases of Message Center Operation for the China Theater Headquarters. His duties included enciphered, deciphered, encoded and decoded top-secret messages.

Returning to Springfield after WWII, Gene met and married Shirley Morris in 1947. Shirley was his life’s love and best friend until her death in 1993. They enjoyed many years of wonderful experiences with family and friends.

His return to employment with Western Electric was interrupted by military service once again during the Korean War. Gene’s affiliation with Western Electric took him to the St. Louis area where he was a job estimator and supervisor for AT&T Telephone building equipment installation in the southwest states region. After retiring, Gene returned to Springfield and began a second career in real estate sales and volunteer work with RSVP and Crosslines.

Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, October 31, 2012, at Woodland Heights Presbyterian Church, with visitation at 10:00 a.m. prior to the service. Inurnment will follow at 11:30 a.m., at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.