Eugene McCaw, age 93, of Grinnell, died on Saturday, July 23, 2022, at the Mayflower Community Health Care Center in Grinnell. A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 13, 2022, at the United Church of Christ in Grinnell with Reverend Jessica Margrave Schirm officiating. Memorials may be designated to the Mayflower Community Human Needs Endowment Fund and mailed in care of the Smith Funeral Home, PO Box 368, Grinnell, Iowa 50112. Born Eugene Ballou McCaw in Steamboat Rock, Iowa, on April 18, 1929, Eugene graduated from Clarence High School in Clarence, Iowa, in 1946, and later studied farm operations at Iowa State University. Eugene married Ramona Elaine Merritt, also of Clarence, on June 19, 1952. Eugene served the US Army as a mechanic during the Korean War. Upon his return home from Korea, he and Ramona operated the family farm southwest of Clarence for 55 years, and it was there that they raised their three children, Monte, Guy, and Sharon. After his own children headed off to college, Eugene continued to farm, but also drove school bus for the Clarence-Lowden (which later became part of North Cedar ) school district. Gene drove bus for 30 years, many of those years serving as head bus driver for the district. In addition to his daily route, he enjoyed driving students to varsity ball games and to high school music and speech contests. He took great pride in hearing from many of his school bus kids even after they graduated. Eugene and Ramona sold the farm at Clarence in 2008 and retired to the Mayflower Community in Grinnell. Gene joined the Grinnell United Church of Christ, where he was a greeter and served on the finance committee. Prior to moving to Grinnell, Gene had served as treasurer of the Clarence United Methodist Church, sang in the church choir, and along with Ramona had led the Senior High Youth Fellowship (MYF) groups. Eugene loved music and sang with various choral groups, and also marched with the Iowa State Marching Band during his years at Ames. Never boastful, he considered himself a 'blender' and not a soloist. Gene enjoyed Big Band music, "Barefoot Becky and the Ivanhoes," and any performances involving his children. Eugene is survived by two of his three children, Guy McCaw, MD, of Dubuque, Iowa, and Sharon McCaw, of Atlanta, Georgia. His son Guy is a family physician who practiced in Grinnell for many years before relocating to Dubuque in 2015, where he now serves as a clinic-based family physician for Guttenberg Municipal Hospital and Clinics. Sharon is a Supply Chain Manager for the Home Depot corporate offices in Atlanta, Georgia. Eugene's eldest son, Monte McCaw, DVM, PhD, who passed away in 2009, was a small town veterinarian in Lake City, Iowa, who later went on to teach swine virology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Eugene is also survived by grandsons Derek McCaw (Joy), an IT manager in Raleigh, NC; Travis McCaw (Lauren), Radiation Oncology Medical Physicist at UPMC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Tyler McCaw, currently a resident physician in surgical oncology at UCLA, in Los Angeles, California. He also has four great-grandchildren, William McCaw and Alexander McCaw, both of Raleigh, NC (Derek); and Fiona McCaw and Lachlan McCaw of Pittsburgh, PA (Travis). Eugene was preceded in death by his parents, Dan McCaw and Marjorie (Ballou) McCaw, of Clarence; his wife, Ramona; his sister, Ruth Palmer, of Reinbeck, Iowa; and by his eldest son, Monte, of Wake Forest, NC. Eugene's children will forever cherish his calming presence, his high standards of personal integrity, and his infinite patience and kindness.