Paul Eugene Spurgeon

Paul Eugene Spurgeon was born March 3, 1966, in Topeka, KS to Leland and Colleen (Ihla) Spurgeon, and passed away in Kansas City, MO on July 8, 2024, at age 58. These are dull facts that say almost nothing about Paul, who was many things, but never dull. Paul lived at a hundred miles per hour, every minute of every day. He made friends at light speed (which is also the speed at which he tended to drive), danced with such uncoordinated enthusiasm he frequently cleared entire dance floors, and he loved the folks around him at full throttle, no off-switch. Paul graduated with Honors from Washburn University in Topeka, as his father did, and made lifelong friends out of his brothers in Alpha Delta Fraternity where he was Rush Chairman, in addition to serving on Washburn University’s Student Senate and on the student newspaper. After graduating in 1988, he jumped into two emerging industries in telecommunications—first cable television, then cell phone towers, because new things were just opportunities waiting to be explored for Paul. He moved to Kansas City and started his own business, Nations Media Partners, in 1996 at the age of 29. He made and lost a small fortune, and responded by making a couple more. But just making money was never enough, so he lent his energy to a number of charities; as a member of the Activities and Outreach Committee for Unity Temple on the Plaza, as a Founding Committee Member of the Kansas City Chapter of Human Rights Campaign, and by serving on the Board of Directors of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, helping fight the disease that took his mother. He adored his nieces and nephews, his sister Sara and her husband Greg Roberts’ kids, Laila and Ian, and his brother Trent and his wife Diana’s kids, Lilly and Quinn. He loved his cousin Kelly (Arneson) Johnson like another sister, and thought of her girls, Jamie and Nicole, like they were his own. The kids, in turn, adored their crazy, quirky Uncle Paul. Tales of Spurgeon Family vacations are the stuff of (often comic) legend. Just ask Paul’s brother-in-law, Greg, how Paul demonstrated Greg has the strongest foot bones in the Western world. Then, Paul met Billy Charles Yarbrough and his life made a complete 180. He loved Billy with every ounce of his being, and proposed to him in his sister’s Texas living room at one of her annual Thanksgiving dinner parties in front of a score of cheering Lubbockites who by then considered Paul one of their own. Paul married Billy in 2018, but to say Paul is survived by Billy gives no hint about what Billy meant to him, how Billy was his rock, his lighthouse, his inspiration, and his solace. After Paul married Billy he gained another family. He is also survived by Billy’s mother, Teresa and her husband Brent Rockhold of Arbela, MO; Billy’s father Don and his wife Reita Yarbrough of Marshall, AR; and multiple in-laws including Billy’s identical twin brother Christopher Yarbrough and his husband Thomas Whittaker of Raytown, MO; Joshua De Vault of Harrison, AR; Vince and Shana Rockhold of Ennis, TX; his sister–in–law Garrette Hudson and her husband Duston Hudson of Leslie, AR; and brother-in-law Heath Yarbrough of Marshall, AR. His surviving nieces and nephews on Billy’s side of the family include Stephanie Yarbrough, Michael Yarbrough, Eric Yarbrough and wife Megan, Erica and husband Dylan Nickell, great-nieces and -nephews Callie Rockhold, Jeremy Rockhold, Lucas Rockhold, Rhyleigh Hudson, Kamden Yarbrough, Karson Yarbrough, Kyah Yarbrough, and Atlas Nickell. In the expansive arms of Billy’s extended family, Paul also had more aunts and cousins than can be listed here. In the end, Paul spent his final moments on this earth in the house he and Billy’s love made into a home. A memorial service to celebrate Paul’s life will be held at Unity Temple on the Plaza (707 W. 47th Street, Kansas City, MO 64112/ (816) 561-4466) at 3:00 p.m. on July 27th with a reception afterward at Bistro 303 (303 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO 64111). Stories about Paul’s dancing, driving, vacation escapades, and/or mile-wide grin are welcome. My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends— It gives a lovely light! Edna St. Vincent Millay

Paul Eugene Spurgeon

March 3, 1966 - July 8, 2024