Ronald Gene Mertens, 81, died April 11, 2025, at his home in Garden Plain.

He was born July 8, 1943, in Kingman, the son of Leo and Lucille Miller Mertens.  A longtime resident of Kingman County, moving to Garden Plain in 1973, he was the owner of Mertens and Sons Construction.

Gene was a member of St. Peter Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus, both in Willowdale.

On July 30, 1966, he married Sandy Theis at St. Leo.  Other survivors include sons Ronn (Jamie) and RodJoe (Dana), daughter Brenda Venard; brothers Leo, Leroy and Marvin; sisters Karen (Mike) Lubbers and Helen Meyers; grandchildren Daniel Unruh, Alisha Loehr, Katelyn Hosford, Haley Prosser, Carly Reid, Brady and Brendan Frerichs, Cade and Colby Mertens and Cooper Venard; great-grandchildren Brentley, Hunter, Kayden and Banks Loehr, Paisley and Oakley Prosser, Saylor and Sophie Hosford and Lincoln and Oliver Unruh. He was preceded in death by brothers Lawrence, Ed, Don and John; and sisters Dorothy Swart, Rosella Henning, and Pauline and Alice Jacobs.

Parish Rosary will be 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, at St. Leo Catholic Church, St. Leo, Kansas, followed by a Memorial Mass at 10:30. A private family burial will be at a later date.

Memorials may be made with the St. Leo Building Fund in care of Livingston Funeral Home, 1830 N. Main, Kingman, KS  67068.