Barber County Kansas

Harvey Lee & Doris Ella (Smith) Garten

Gravestone for Harvey Lee and Doris Ella (Smith) Garten, Sunnyside Cemetery, Sun City, Barber County, Kansas. 

Photo courtesy of Bonnie (Garten) Shaffer.
Gravestone for Harvey Lee and Doris Ella (Smith) Garten
Harvey L.     July 21, 1913 - Sept. 8, 1998
Doris E.     Nov. 26, 1912 - ________
Married: June 10, 1931.

Sunnyside Cemetery, Sun City, Barber County, Kansas.
Photo courtesy of Bonnie (Garten) Shaffer.


The Barber County Index, September 16, 1998.

Obituary: Harvey Lee Garten

Harvey Lee Garten.

Photo courtesy of Bonnie (Garten) Shaffer.

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At left: Harvey Lee Garten, detail from a family photograph of the Hal and Ella (Connor) Garten family.

Photo courtesy of Bonnie (Garten) Shaffer.

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Harvey Lee Garten was born July 21, 1913, south of Lake City near the Hoover Springs, the son of Hal and Belle Connor Garten. He was raised in the Gyp Hills of Barber County west of Medicine Lodge. As soon as he was old enough, he started working on area ranches and was a cowboy all his life.

On June 10, 1931, he married Doris Ella Smith. To this union were born two sons, Fred L. and Lonnie D.

Harvey was a horseman and was well known for his skill at riding horses and training horses that everyone else had given up on. He worked on some of the larger ranches around this area like Z Bar, Hoover Ranch, Merrill Ranch, and the Skinner Ranch. He spent the last few years before his retirement ranching for himself in Comanche County.

When he was a young man, he enjoyed participating in bull riding, saddle bronc, and the roping events in rodeos. He was a member of the Turtle Association, the forerunner of the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association. Later on, he enjoyed the cutting horse contests, for which he rode and trained horses and was a member of the American Quarter Horse Association. Next to his family, good horses were the love of his life and he broke his last colt at the age of 77. He instilled the love of horses in his family, and his sons and grandchildren are still riding some of the horses he broke as well.

Next to horses, a great joy to him was music. He was a big fan of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, and he could play all of their old songs on his fiddle, his favorite being San Antonio Rose. Before the days of television, Harvey and Doris spent many a long winter's night entertaining themselves with Harvey on the fiddle and Doris playing the banjo.

Though they hated to leave their good neighbors, Dean and Judy Gregg, they moved off the ranch in 1992. They bought a house in Sun City, where they lived until Harvey's death on September 8, 1998. He died with his boots on doing two things he really liked . . . eating and visiting.

He leaves to enjoy his memory, his wife of 67 years, Doris; sons Fred and Lonnie and their wives, Virginia and Otie, six grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren; two sisters, Edna Smith and Elma Bragg, numerous nieces and nephews and a host of good friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Billie H. Garten.


Family of Hal and Belle (Connor) Garten, Barber County, Kansas.

Left to right: Harvey Garten, Hal Garten, Edna (Garten Smith), Belle (Connor) Garten, Billie H. Garten and Elma (Garten) Bragg.

Photo courtesy of Bonnie (Garten) Shaffer.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW LARGER IMAGE.
Family of Hal and Belle (Connor) Garten, Barber County, Kansas.
L-R: Harvey Garten, Hal Garten, Edna (Garten) Smith, Belle (Connor) Garten, Billie H. Garten and Elma (Garten) Bragg.
Photo courtesy of Bonnie (Garten) Shaffer.
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Elma Verna (Garten) Bragg, sister of Harvey Lee Garten.

Hal & Belle (Connor) Garten, parents of Harvey Lee Garten.

John & Malinda (Rogers) Garten, grandparents of Harvey Lee Garten.

Billie H. Garten, brother of Harvey Lee Garten.

Edna (Garten) Smith, sister of Harvey L. Garten.


Thanks to Bonnie (Garten) Shaffer for contributing the above obituary to this web site!



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