Donald William Gibbens
Our Loving father, Donald “Don” William Gibbens of Newton, passed away April 20, 2022 at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas at the age of 72. He was born in Newton, Kansas on July 30, 1949 to William Earl Gibbens and Lillie Adger Franklin. Don was the 3rd generation of the Gibbens family to be born in Newton. He was the youngest of two children, his parents were also guardians of his Uncle Butch (David) so they grew up like brothers. He spent his childhood working on cars with his dad, especially Mopars!! Don grew up in Newton and graduated from Newton High School in 1968. Don married Carol Eda Auernheimer in Hesston, Kansas March 25, 1972. Don and Carol were blessed with three sons, Scot, Jason and Allan. They would later divorce. Throughout his working career he held several positions working at Koehn and Associates as a mechanic and maintenance man, a school bus driver for USD 373 and worked at The Newton, Kansan part time. In the 1990’s he was the supervisor of the Railroad Taxi Service for Santa Fe Railroad, (now BNSF), at the Newton Rail Yard. He also did Janitorial work at Hesston Middle School and later worked for Kaye Electric before retiring in 2012.
