Gene Forrest VanArsdale, July 28, 1938 to March 14, 2025. Gene VanArsdale was born in Arrow Rock, Missouri and grew up in Lawson, Missouri. He graduated from Southwest Baptist University and received ordination as a Baptist minister. Gene then served in the United States Marine Corps achieving the rank of Lance Corporal, serving as assistant chaplain at the Marine Corp Base Quantico. After the military, Gene entered the federal service, first with the Navy and then the Small Business Administration. During that time, he also attended and became a graduate of Georgetown Law. With the SBA, Gene’s legal career included District Counsel for the SBA Kansas City District, Deputy Associate Administrator for Procurement and Technical Assistance, Assistant Administrator for Prime Contracts, including as a member of the Interagency Negotiating Group for NAFTA; and in his last role, as District Director of the Sioux Falls District office. After retirement, Gene achieved an LLM in Arbitration and Mediation at University of Missouri, and served as an arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau. Gene’s parents predeceased him but he leaves friends to share his memory.
Gene requested no service. He will be buried at sea by the U.S. Navy.
Memories of Gene began early 1950s when he was a teenager and I, younger, so was gladdened to meet an “older person.” This was at Trinity Baptist Church Sunday school class where his mother Alice Orean VanArsdale was our Sunday school leader. My family moved shortly after, so the decades passed and I didn’t see Gene until a BBB mediation with a “landscaper” who didn’t fulfill her obligation. Gene was in charge, and his first question was to ask if either parties knew him. I had recognized his name immediately, but said no because of intensities. And I presumed he would not have remembered me after having met over 50 years ago.. Gene was a master of his craft, and my refund followed. The regret was in my not having contacted him later to let him know he and his mother were both remembered fondly.