Ken Bauer Sr. of Springfield MO., passed away surrounded by his family on Friday, January 13, 2017, at Mercy Hospital after a short illness. He was 75 years young. He had a long history working in sales and labor jobs. He worked as an Independent Contractor for Henry Industries as a courier, delivering pharmaceutical medications to people in Retirement Homes and Hospice patients for a few years before moving on to driving for Ozark Mailing Service last year before having to retire for good due to health reasons.

He was born in McCook Nebraska to Carl and Grace Bauer, he was the oldest of 4 children. They later moved to Colorado where he graduated from Mead High School in 1959. He joined the Navy in 1960 where he served aboard the USS Yorktown and the USS Kearsarge. He said his only claim to fame was being aboard the USS Kearsarge when it picked up Astronaut Walter Schirra after he flew around the world 6 times on America's longest space flight and splashed down into the Pacific in his Sigma 7 capsule. He was also on board the Kearsarge with actor Ernest Borgnine when he appeared in the filming of a television show.

He met and married the love of his life, Joyce Meyer, on Sept. 4, 1965 in Longmont Colorado and to this union two children were born; Ken Bauer Jr and Kris Bauer. They lived there for a short time until his sales job brought him to Springfield MO in 1978.

He became a deep lover of the blues shortly after the death of his beloved wife in 1990. A few years later he discovered a group of Blues lovers and began going to many of their events. He later joined the Blues Society of the Ozarks, a group of Blues enthusiasts who's goal was to encourage appreciation of the blues in the Ozarks. He became their merchandise manager and traveled to different events and monthly picnics selling shirts and other clothing and also selling and calling out the numbers on raffle tickets. He formed life long friendships and relationships with many members of the group as well as local musicians and bands. He had a big heart and loved almost everyone he met.

Ken is preceded in death by his wife, Joyce Bauer. His parents, Carl and Grace Bauer and his baby brother, Dick Bauer.
He is survived by his son, Ken Bauer Jr of Springfield MO. His daughter, Kris Bauer of Springfield MO. Two sisters; Faith Young of Branson MO, Beverly Bauer of Stromsburg Nebraska, and his sister-in-law, Lorraine Bauer of Polk Nebraska, plus a small group of nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Ken's life will be at 1:00 pm, Saturday, January 21, 2017 at Greenlwn Funeral Home North with burial in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 7-9 pm, Friday in the funeral home.

A special “Thank You” to the nursing and medical staff at Mercy Hospital for the professionalism and tender care you showed our Dad the few weeks he was under your care. An extra special “Thank You” to Mercy Hospice for the wonderful care you gave our Dad in his last 48 hours.