Kenneth Quick

Kenneth Quick was a man who loved life's little pleasures, from cool days going hunting with friends, to festivals of all kinds, to a cup of coffee with his morning paper. Kenneth loved many things, but most of all, he simply loved people, and the great joy he brought to so many others.

Kenneth's story began on a cool fall day in 1937, in the little northern Michigan area called Custer Township. Those were such hopeful times in this country, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal began to pull the nation from the quagmire of the Great Depression. In the little burg of Custer Township, in the beautiful land of Mason County, Allen and Evelyn (Ager) Quick found another reason for hope, as they readied for the birth of a new baby. On October 19, 1937, a chilly Tuesday, they were warmed by the birth of a baby boy, a son they named Kenneth.

Kenneth's father worked as a farmer, in addition to his job as a machinist at Jackson Vibrators, now called Harsco Track Technologies. Growing up on the family farm, Kenneth learned to have a wonderful work ethic, as everyone was expected to do their fair share. He attended Custer schools, located just around the corner from the farm. Eventually, Kenneth left school in the middle of his senior year, setting out to join the workforce to help his family.

Besides his usual workload around the farm, Kenneth took a job at Motyka Metal Products as a material handler, Carrom Company making furniture, at Savage Manufacturing, and then eventually finding his place at Jackson Vibrators, after his father had retired. Like his father before him, Kenneth enjoyed a long career there, retiring in 2000 after 35 years on the job.

Kenneth's personal life was even more rewarding to him over the years. He met his first wife, Jean Conant, while they were in school together, and the two were married in 1956. They had four beautiful children, Jim, Dean, Rodney and Cheryl, although the marriage didn't last, and they divorced in 1970.

Then one night when he was out dancing with friends, he spied a pretty woman named Shirley Kieft, and after much prodding by his friends, finally asked her to dance. The two talked well into the evening, and they just seemed to click. They were married on May 28, 1973, at the Bachelor Church in Fountain. Shirley brought four children into the relationship, Mike, Roxanne, Robert and Lynne, who Kenneth truly treated as his own children and loved dearly. Sadly, Shirley died on September 28, 1995. Kenneth was destined to find love again, however.

He met Audrey (Christensen) McDonald one evening while he was out dancing at Johnny's in Custer, and was quite taken with her. From that night on, he called her repeatedly to go dancing with him, and she finally said yes. They were together seven wonderful years before finally getting married on September 4, 2006 at their home in Custer.

Audrey and Kenneth enjoyed each other immensely, and loved to go dancing together, or watching the sunset from the beach in Ludington. They enjoyed many sunrises, as well, as Kenneth would get up early every morning, make coffee, read the paper, and then wake up Audrey to enjoy their morning together, often sitting outside when the weather was nice.

That was Kenneth, though, a man who enjoyed so many simple pleasures, like a quiet morning with his wife, or a big bowl of ice cream (there was always room for ice cream, he was fond of saying!). He loved sweets of all kinds, really; cookies, pies, cakes, pudding, and every year he enjoyed some strawberry shortcake before dinner to celebrate the first pick of the season, a tradition his parents started.

He also loved to tinker and fix things, and was working on rebuilding his Farmall tractor with his son Jim. His shop was a lesson in organized chaos; parts everywhere, yet Ken knew the location of every part, bolt and nut. He loved to work around the shop and crack open a cold Miller beer, and even when he was sick in the hospital, the only thing that sounded good to him was a cold Miller!

Kenneth was also the consummate outdoorsman, and he had a great deer-hunting cabin along the river near his home. He loved snowmobiling, camping, and traveling around the U.S. with friends and family. He looked forward to going hunting with his friends Howard, Louie, and Rick, and with his sons Jim and Dean and grandsons Christopher, David and Jason every year. He also co-founded with Howard, Ray, Tony and son Jim an annual tradition called Suckerfest, taking place on the Pere Marquette River every spring, which grew into a huge event of hundreds of participants each year for the past 30 years.

Kenneth was a very quiet, easygoing man, set in his ways, but always warm and friendly to others. He was very much a people-person. From the Labor Day Bridge Walk, in which he participated every year until 2003, to the Cherry Festival and Harvest Festival, if there was a gathering, you could count on Ken being there. He was a wonderful man, a kind, loving person to whom others were drawn. If you treated him well, Kenneth gladly called you friend, and he proudly called many people friend over the years. A testament to his loyal friendship, he enjoyed a lifelong relationship with Dick Ohse and Louie LaRocque, all three of whom went to school together and remained friends throughout the many moves and changes in their lives and were now enjoying spending time together again. Kenneth was a devoted husband, loving father and grandfather, and a man who enjoyed life's simpler pleasures. He will be greatly missed.

Ken was also preceded in death by his parents, one grandchild, and his brothers-in-law Ralph Christensen, and Earl Langefeldt. He will be greatly missed by his wife Audrey, his children& grandchildren Jim (Dawn) Quick of Custer and their children Christopher & David, Dean (Laura) Quick of Scottville and their children Deanna & Jason, Rodney Quick and his children Duane & Lisa of Edwardsburg, Cheryl (Dan) Gage of Fountain, Mike Mahoney and his son Michael Paul of Lincoln, Nebraska, Roxanne (Cal) Vega and their son Nick Zbojniewicz of Manistee, Robert (Patti) Mahoney and their sons Brent & Derrick of Whitehall, and Lynne Spyker and her daughter LeAnn Dahringer of Manistee, his stepchildren Marvin (Mary) McDonald and their children Tom & Matt McDonald and Ashley & Toni Marie Swider of Pentwater, Julie (Dan) Nieboer and their sons Lucas & Jess of Walkerville, Joyce Sorensen and her children Rob, Amanda, Rachel & Dylan of Ludington, Aage (Nita) McDonald and their son Brandon of Custer, and Kim (Jason) Compeau and their daughters Kaydee & Jozee of Ludington, and his great granddaughter Emily Bolt, his brother Allen (Wilma) Quick of Ludington, his sisters Doreen Langefeldt of Custer, and Carol Quick of Frankfort, his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Arlene Christensen of Ludington, Nedra (Robert) Haupt, Nels (Sandy) Christensen, Pete (Jackie) Christensen, and Lance (Marge Carlson) Christensen all of Scottville, many nieces, nephews, and great friends. A Celebration of Life service will be held for Ken at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, October 18 at the Stephens Life Story Funeral Home in Scottville, with Rev. Norm Letsinger of Bachelor Evangelical Covenant Church officiating. Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery in Custer. Friends may meet with his family for a time of visitation on Tuesday evening from 6-9 PM and on Wednesday from Noon until time of services at the funeral home. Those who wish may make memorial contributions to Hospice of Michigan ~ Mason County, or to the American Lung Association. Please visit Ken's personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you may sign the guestbook or leave a memory for his family.