LEE, Kenneth

LEE, MCTASNEY, TREFT, HOFER, NELSON, MUMMERT

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 1/30/2009 at 10:03:03

Kenneth Lee

Kenneth Lee, of Cherokee, Iowa, died Tuesday January 27, 2009 at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, Sioux City, Iowa.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 10:30 A.M. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church Cherokee, Iowa. Rev. Armand Bertrand will officiate. Burial will be in the Mount Calvary Cemetery, Cherokee, Iowa. Visitation will be Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. A prayer service will be held Friday at 7:00 P.M., followed by a rosary with the Knights of Columbus, also at the church. Greenwood Funeral Home, Cherokee, Iowa is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.greenwoodfuneral.com

Ken was born January 17, 1936 in Battle Creek, Iowa, to Bill and Phoebe (McTasney) Lee. Sr. He attended school in Cherokee, graduating from the Washington High School class of 1955. He worked for the Iowa Highway Commission and then as a salesperson selling cook wear for Wear-Ever. Ken met his wife Molly while making a sales call in Sioux City, Iowa. On June 4, 1960 he married Molly Treft in Battle Creek, Iowa. Ken then changed careers and became manager for the J.C. Penney shoe department in Cherokee, Iowa. He was promoted and Ken and Molly headed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With another promotion on the horizon that would have taken them to Chicago, they decided to return to Cherokee, Iowa and purchased Klatt’s Hardware Store, later to be Lee’s Hardware. This hardware store was part of the Cherokee community for 23 years. In 1989, Ken closed the store and began selling International Trucks for Bushlow’s, Inc. where he worked for 10 years. He semi-retired and was currently working as a short haul delivery driver for Hy-Vee.

Ken was an active member of the Cherokee community and assisted in helping Cherokee grow. He was responsible for starting the Friday morning coffees sponsored by the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and 4th degree member of the Knights of Columbus. Ken was past president of the Iowa Hardware Association, a member and unofficial joke-teller of the Cherokee Kiwanis Club, and the Serpaci antique auto club.

His hobbies were collecting old cars, old coins and old stories! He enjoyed traveling and spending time with his friends and family. He was gifted with a wonderful personality and made friends wherever he went.

He is survived by his wife, Molly, of 48 years, a daughter, Nancy Hofer, and her husband, Brent, of Scranton, Iowa; a son Tom Lee, and his wife, Maureen of Dallas, Texas; a daughter, Wendy Nelson, and her husband, Ken, of Sutherland, Iowa; his mother, Phoebe Lee Mummert, of Cherokee, Iowa; 11 grandchildren, Katie Hofer, Twins Scott and Alex Hofer, Kody Nelson, Ryan Lee, Patrick Nelson, Samuel Nelson, Emily Hofer, Thomas Nelson, Collin Lee and Abigail Nelson.