Kenneth R. Decker

(1918-1985)

Member #51

Rock River Thresheree Class of 1965

Kenneth R. Decker, 66, of 544 Greendale, a longtime businessman and former Janesville Board of Education member, died Saturday in Mercy Hospital after an apparent heart attack.

Born May 17, 1918, in Janesville, he married Caryle Reese on June 1, 1940, in Janesville. He owned and operated Decker Manufacturing Co. in Janesville from 1944 to 1980.

He was a member of First Lutheran Church, where he was a past president and member of its church council. He served on the board of directors of Martin Luther Children's Home from 1958 to 1962, and Lutheran Social Services from 1963 to 1969, where he was president from 1966 to 1969. He served on the Janesville Board of Education from 1952 to 1964, was named Janesville's Outstanding Young Man in 1953, was past president of the Janesville Rotary Garden Club, and had been a member of the Cedar Crest board of directors since 1978.

Surviving are his wife; a son, William of Cambridge; two daughters, Elizabeth Radtke of Westboro and Barbara Hammer of Waukesha; five grandchildren; a brother, Donald of Janesville; and two sisters, Bernice Stark and Marjorie Waldhart, both of Janesville.

Services will be at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in First Lutheran Church, with burial in Milton Lawns Memorial Park. Visitation is from 7 to 9 p.m. today in Overton Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the church or Cedar Crest.

[Source: The Janesville Gazette, Saturday, May 4, 1985]