Ira Hyde III

Ira B Hyde, 91, Overland Park, KS passed away Tuesday, December 24, 2019. A visitation will be held from 9 to 10 AM preceding a funeral at 10 AM Monday, December 30 at the Johnson County  Funeral Chapel, 11200 Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park, KS, followed by burial at Johnson County Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial contributions honoring Ben be given to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, or the Kansas City Symphony.

Ben was born on October 2, 1928 in St. Helens, OR. His mother was Lorene Fuller Hyde and his father was Ira B Hyde II. They moved to Princeton, MO and he graduated from Princeton High School. Ben was drafted into the army to serve in the Korean War. He attended boot camp at Camp Roberts in California before being stationed in New York City. There he met Doris Jean Millar and after a brief courtship they married in San Francisco, CA and were a happily married for 55 years. They enjoyed exploring California in his prized yellow convertible.

They returned to Missouri and he attended college at MU in Columbia, obtaining a liberal arts degree. The young couple moved to an apartment on the Plaza in Kansas City. While working in Kansas City Ben obtained an MA in Economics at UMKC. The couple moved to Princeton, MO where Ben worked at the Farmer’s State Bank in Princeton, eventually becoming President and owner. He also was President and owner of Mercer Bank. Ben and Jean restored his childhood home and filled it with antiques, a large garden, and even a playhouse. Their daughter Sarah was born in 1965.

In 1979 the family returned to Kansas City so Sarah could attend Sunset Hill School. Ben’s career also included being on the board of AmeriBank and working for the Small Business Administration.

The couple was very active in the community and loved the arts. Although not a collector himself, Ben relished in Jean’s hobby, turning a two-story building in Princeton into a country store displaying antiques. The couple loved traveling and made many treasured life-long friends together. The family particularly enjoyed activities at the Carriage Club and the Country Club United Methodist Church. In his retirement Ben read on a wide variety of subjects and traveled extensively with his family on over a dozen cruises. He was immensely proud of and devoted to his family.

Ben was preceded in death by his wife Jean Hyde and his sister Jeanie. He is survived by his daughter Sarah Hyde Schmiedeler and her husband Bryan Scott Schmiedeler, grandchildren Ben and Caroline Koenig.