Goens Family Donates Truck

Allen Goens spent much of his adult life collecting and restoring old trucks and cars. He found a truck in southwest Kansas in the fall of 1977. Photos of the truck and numbers off the chassis were sent to GMC's headquarters in Pontiac, Michigan. The truck's chassis number indicated that it was built in 1935 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for use in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The CCC Museum of South Dakota board of directors, volunteers and friends, thank the Goens family for this wonderful donation. We are so honored to able to provide a home for this beautifully restored 1935 GMC truck. A permanent display building will be completed in 2019 and details will be made available as the project progresses. The truck was transported from Kansas to South Dakota November 3 - November 5, 2018.

Thousands come to the Black Hills and visit Hill City every year. The Civilian Conservation Corps Museum of South Dakota provides much information to relatives of enrollees, students, educators, and history buffs. The GMC truck that Allen Goens restored will be a significant part of the museum and the Black Hills.

Remembered for his giving ways

Allen Everett Goens, pictured with his wife, Judy, had many civic roles in Basehor.

Allen Everett Goens, 72, of Basehor died Sept. 20, 2007 after a two-year battle with mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer. Mr. Basehor: Goens was a native of Kansas City, Kan., a Basehor High School graduate and a U.S. Army veteran. He was married to his wife, Judy, for 45 years. The couple had three children and two grandchildren. His wife still lives in Basehor in the same house where they raised their family.

"In order of importance, family, friends, community and cars were his loves," said Goens' older daughter, Lisa Brown. "And he always had time for everyone. He never said, 'I don't have time.' No matter who it was," Brown said. Goens was "literally and figuratively" the mayor of Basehor, said his son, Michael Goens.

Goens served as mayor from 1979 to 1981. Later, he was president of the City Council and then became chief of the volunteer fire department. As mayor, he plowed snow from the streets, his daughter said. And when the trash man was out sick, Goens became the trash collector, too. Responding to a car accident in 1984 as part of the ambulance crew for the Basehor Fire Department, he found his son seriously injured in the wreckage. "He worked to suction liquid out of Michael's lungs," Brown said. "He saved his life."

Goens also served as chairman of the water district and was a booster club officer, a Little League coach, a member of the Lions Club and a parks board volunteer. In1997, Goens was named Basehor citizen of the year. Working with metal: By trade, Goens was a sheet metal fabricator for Trans World Airlines in Kansas City, a job he took right out of high school. For 42 years, Goens got up at 4:30 a.m. and made the 40minute drive to work, rarely missing a day. "He was always getting awards for attendance," Brown said. He was dedicated to his job, she said, and was very talented with metal.

Goens had loved cars ever since he was a child, Brown said. As an adult, Goens spent many years restoring antique cars, including a 1940 Chevrolet sedan, a1935 GMC truck, a 1949 Chevrolet half-ton truck, and a 1951 Chevrolet one-ton truck. And after he retired from TWA, Goens drove his antiques to his job working security at Kansas Speedway. And every chance he got, he drove them in parades, Brown said. Since Goens was so good at restoring cars, he became the guy in town who would do minor car maintenance for the neighbors to save them an expensive repair bill, Michael Goens said. "He could fix anything," he said.

Family first: Even with all he did in the community, Goens saw to his family's needs first, Michael Goens said. "I played baseball, basketball and football and I don't remember him ever missing a game," he said. Brown said her dad never missed any event she or her sister, Lesley McAfee, had. Goens' children remember him as a "very mild-mannered man and easygoing," Michael Goens said. "But as a father, if you did wrong, he would let you know you were in trouble and we would get a stern talking to."

Survivors include: His wife, three children, two grandchildren, a sister, a brother in-law and two sons-in-law.

Last word: "We weren't a rich family by wealth," Michael Goens said. "But I think that from the amount of love he showed us, we certainly were wealthy."