Kansas’ first gentleman has died

Spencer W. Finney Jr., husband of the late Gov. Joan Finney and the state’s first “first gentleman,” has died. He was 89.

His daughter, Mary Holladay of Topeka, says her father died Thursday of natural causes at his home in Topeka.

He had served as Kansas’ first gentleman from 1991 to 1995, when his wife served a single term as the state’s governor – the first woman to hold that office.

Spencer Finney was born on Jan. 20, 1931, in Chanute, Kansas. He graduated from Topeka High School in 1949 and went on to work for the Santa Fe Railroad for 30 years.

He married the then-Joan McInroy in 1957, and they remained married until her death in 2001.

A private funeral service is planned.