Gene Verlon Bess was born on March 3, 1935, to Hobson and Maude (Cramer) Bess, married Nelda (McCann) Bess on May 27, 1961, and was the father of Garron, Janell, and Brian and grandfather of Taylor, Kolby, Kiley, and Bryelle. A 1953 graduate of Oak Ridge H.S. where he played all sports, he earned a B.S. degree from Southeast Missouri State University in 1957 and an Ed.S. degree from Murray State University in 1974. He coached high school basketball from 1957 to 1969, compiling a combined record of 250 and 90 at Lesterville H.S., Anniston H.S., and Oran H.S. He then coached at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, from 1970 to 2016, compiling a record of 1,231 and 360, winning NJCAA national championships in 1979 and 1992, becoming the all-time winningest college basketball coach, and becoming the first college coach to reach 1,000 and 1,200 wins. His honors included NJCAA Coach of the Year in 1979 and 1982, Region 16 Coach of the Year 22 times, induction into the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame in 1983, the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 1989, the Southeast Missouri Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Region 16 Hall of Fame in 2011, as well as the Semoball Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, induction into the Missouri Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Gary Filbert Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and recognition as a Missouri Sports Legend in November 2016.