The upcoming Reminisce Days Saturday, Sept. 26 in Dearborn will honor longtime resident Karlton Nash and the 75 years of service that Nash Gas has offered to their customers and the town.
Nash Gas supplies propane to customers’ 500- and 1,000-gallon tanks. The company’s slogan is “Nash Gas puts the Pro in Propane.”
Sponsored by the Dearborn Betterment Association and the North Platte Chamber of Commerce, this will be the third year for the event.
After graduation from North Platte High School, Karlton attended St. Joseph Junior College. He enlisted in the Army and returned to Dearborn in 1962 and began working full-time at Nash Gas, which he still does to this day.
The history of Nash Gas goes back to Joseph William Nash and Vivian Rollins Nash who owned the Rollins-Nash Funeral Home and Furniture Store in Edgerton. They began selling bottled gas in 1945 under the name Nash Gas & Appliance Co. A few years later they began selling bulk propane from a truck.
When in 1954 the Nash’s realized the need to expand their business by getting access to a railroad they purchased land beside the Great Western Railroad Terminal in Dearborn, where they built a propane storage facility on the land and opened an office on Main Street.
In 1998 they acquired a propane facility in Riverside. All three of the plants are still operational today.
For the Nash family the success of the plants has been a united effort that has spanned four generations. J.W. and Vivian’s children, Karlton and Rollins were both dedicated to continuing the business’ success.
“In 1962, my wife and I moved to Dearborn and have been residents of the city and rural community for 58 years,” Karlton said. “Rollins Nash and his family were residents of Edgerton until his death in 2019.”
Grandchildren Tim Nash and his wife Kimberly live in Camden Point and both are members of Nash Gas and Nash Fuels Transport. Scott Nash and his family live in Lee’s Summit, and he provides technical support for the company.
Great-granddaughter, Regan Nash is the webmaster and part-time secretary for the business.
In the early 1990s Karlton and Tim realized that many businesses in the area were having trouble finding fuel carriers to deliver fuel from the pipeline when they needed it.
“Nash Gas would have to wait for days to get a delivery,” Karlton said. “In 1993, we began operating Nash Fuels Transport and started hauling our own product and fuel for other propane retailers and convenience stores in our area. Nash Fuels Transport now delivers fuel to Northwest Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas.”
Karlton said the many decades of the company’s success are due to continuous adaptation to the needs of their customers in six counties in Missouri and two in Kansas.
Nash Gas is the only propane dealer in the area that is still family-owned. Karlton said the other companies have been bought out and are operated by large corporations from other parts of the country.
“Our employees are from this area and most of them have grown up here,” Karlton said. “We get to know our customers and work hard to take care of them.”
Living and working in the Dearborn community has been a privilege for Karlton and he feels fortunate to have had the unique opportunity to watch his two sons and one of his three granddaughters graduate from the North Platte High School, the same school he attended.
He has also served the community as a school board member and he said being elected a member of the Dearborn Board of Aldermen was an honor.
“Actually, there are just too many memories to list,” Karlton said.