Charles Kenneth "Ken" Bohnhoff, Orfordville, WI  (1911 - 2012)

May 4, 1911 - January 19, 2012
Charles Kenneth “Ken” Bohnhoff, age 100, formerly of Orfordville, passed away on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, at Cedar Crest Health Care Center, Janesville. He was born May 4, 1911, in Jo Davies County near Warren, IL, son of Karl Wilhelm “Charlie” Bohnhoff and Frieda Marie Koehn Bohnhoff. He was married to Ella May Schumacher on Feb. 15, 1936, at her family home in Center Township, Rock County. Prior to Ella May's death on March 19, 2008, they celebrated their seventy-second wedding anniversary.
Ken attended grade schools at Apple River, IL, then at Orfordville, and graduated from Pioneer School on June 18, 1925. He started high school in Orfordville, broke a leg in football practice and did not get back to classes. He grew up speaking German and did not speak English until he learned it in school. He grew up near Warren, IL, then Dunbarten, IL, moving to Orfordville in July 1919. His father bought a farm south of Orfordville in 1921, from Otto Johnson, grandfather of Arthur Johnson. When his father passed away, he continued to work the farm until his retirement in Orfordville in 1979. Ken sold seed corn: DeKalb, later Pioneer, for a total of 30 years. After retirement he worked at an implement repair shop in Orfordville for several years, putting to use the many skills he had learned and developed over the years on the farm.
Ken was a fervent Christian and member of Orfordville Lutheran Church from the time he came to Orfordville until 1974. He was elected to serve variously as trustee, deacon, church council chairman, and on several building and call committees. He joined Luther Valley Lutheran Church in 1974, where again he served as trustee, deacon, and repair man for odd jobs around the church. He served on the Orfordville School Board (now Parkview) for 21 years, and as assessor on the Avon Township Board for three years. He was a power hitter and fast runner in softball, loved family activities, hunting, traveling, visiting with friends, and at last quilting. He learned to sew at age 86! The quilt frame stayed up year around in the Bohnhoff basement, where Ken assisted Ella May and the sewing ladies by cleaning, pressing and cutting blocks for the quilts, occasionally sewing, as he got too far ahead of them. Their maximum output for Lutheran World Relief was in 2006 when they completed over 400 quilts.
Ken is survived by his children: Lee (Torbjørg) of Orfordville, Hal of Tucson, AZ, and Helen (Jerry) Pearson of Rockford, IL; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Ella May; an unnamed sister who died shortly after birth; and his daughter, Elizabeth Ann Bohnhoff Blush.
Funeral services will be held at LUTHER VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH, Town of Newark, at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, with Pastor Mary Froiland officiating. Visitation will be held at NEWCOMER-SILVERTHORN CHAPEL ON THE HILL, Hwy 11 and South Coon Island Road, Orfordville, on Wednesday, from 5 until 7 p.m., and at the CHURCH on Thursday from 10 a.m. until the time of service. Refreshments will be served at Luther Valley Lutheran Church following the interment in Orfordville Lutheran Cemetery.
A memorial service will be held in the CEDAR CREST CHAPEL on Friday Jan. 27, 2012, at 10 a.m., with Pastors Jim Rowlette and Mary Froiland officiating.
The family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the staff of Cedar Crest Inc. for the loving care they provided.
Memorials will be divided equally between Luther Valley Lutheran Church and Orfordville Lutheran Church. Cards may be sent c/o Newcomer-Silverthorn Chapel on the Hill, PO Box 101, Orfordville, WI 53576-0101.