Kenneth C. Gehrke, 90, of Kimball, died at the Kimball County Manor on Thursday, July 30, 2009. Funeral services were held at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at the First English Lutheran Church in Kimball with Pastor Donella Silveira officiating. Burial was in the Kimball Cemetery. Military Graveside Honors will be preformed by Kimball VFW Post #2243. Friends were able to call at the funeral home on Tuesday from 1:00 until 6:00 p.m. Memorials have been established to the First English Lutheran Church and the Alzheimer’s Association. Cantrell Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.Kenneth Charles Gehrke was born in Grafton, Nebraska on June 9, 1919, the son of Herman and Ida Gehrke. He was raised and attended school in Grafton. He was baptized and confirmed at the Lutheran Church in Shickley, NE. He moved with his family to Kimball County in 1930 and attended and graduated from the Kimball High School in 1938. Kenneth farmed with his father until enlisting in the Army in March of 1942, 3 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was in field artillery in the states for 2 1⁄2 years around New York City until he was sent overseas in 1944. He served in Germany and France in the 40th Battalion and the 104th Coast Artillery.  He was honorably discharged in January of 1946. He was married to Gale Fletcher  in Kimball on December 1, 1946. Kenneth was a member of the First English Lutheran Church for 70 years and served on the church council for a number of years and on the building committee when the present church was built in 1949. Kenneth and Gale lived on a farm south of Bushnell for 30 years until they built a home in Bushnell in 1976.  He continued to farm and was chosen Outstanding Farmer in 1963 for the Farmers Day Celebration. He had a great love for farming and the soil and proudly watched the crops grow.  In October of 2008 Kenneth and Gale moved from their home in Bushnell to Vista Villa in Kimball.Survivors include his wife Gale of Kimball, NE; son David (LaVonne) Gehrke of Gilbert, AZ; daughter Carolyn Fletcher of Golden, CO and Tami  Argo-Ray and husband Jim Ray of Gold Canyon, AZ; grandson Sean and wife Rachel Conover of Englewood, CO; granddaughters Staci Gehrke of Gilbert, AZ., Lorissa Argo-Ray and fiancé James Coats of Bushnell and Amanda and husband Jim Hill of Brighton, CO; great grandchildren Jesse and Hannah Wood and Austin and Joshua Hill; numerous nieces and nephews.He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Delbert, sister Maxine and an infant daughter Marcia Lynn in 1953.