Mervin "Gene" Long

Mervin Eugene "Gene" Long, the son of Mervin Long and Annis (White) Long, was born August 18, 1944 near Bedford, Iowa. Gene attended school at Bedford and began his working career as a farm laborer in the Bedford area. Gene and Patricia Marie Hubbard were married and eventually made their home in the Hancock, Iowa area. Their marriage was blessed with two children, Rick Long and Brenda Long. Gene later would work for the Bartlett Elevator Company and Wilson Concrete Company of Omaha, Nebraska. Gene and Patricia divorced in 1980.
Gene and Carlleen LaVonne (Gibson) Lorimor became companions and Gene accepted her son, Cameron, as his own. Gene and Carlleen were blessed with sons Roy Lee Long and Richard Eugene Long. They lived in the Glenwood, Iowa area where Gene worked for Glee Dashner and later as a dozer operator for Bill Evans. Gene went into the earth moving business with his brother Don Long and later worked for the Harper family in the farm equipment business. The desire to farm took Gene to work for Robert West near Malvern, Iowa. His last fulltime work was as an earth mover operator for the Schildberg Construction Company. Gene enjoyed working. Gene and Carlleen were married May 30, 2003.
In May 2006, Gene was diagnosed with acute anemia, which, by November, became acute leukemia. Gene and Carlleen had shared 27 years together when Gene died on February 2, 2007 at the Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He had attained the age of 62 years, 5 months, and 14 days.
Gene was preceded in death by his parents; brother Don Long and brother-in-law Delbert Tribbie. He is survived by his wife Carlleen; children Rick Long and his wife Rhoda of Thurman, Iowa, Brenda Long of Clarinda, Iowa, Roy Long, Richard Long, and Cameron Lorimor and his wife Jeannie all of Glenwood; granddaughters Kinzey Long, Abigail Lorimor and Katelynn Lorimor all of Glenwood; sister Vivian Tribbie of Florida and brother Glen Long and his wife Barbara of Clarinda; sister-in-law Lorraine Long of Tabor, IA; nieces and nephews; other relatives and friends.