Kenneth Lamoine Herring

Kenneth (Ken) Herring, 90, passed away at Cedar Manor Nursing Home on May 10, 2023. On Friday, July 21, 2023, First United Church of Christ, Tipton will host a gathering of family and friends from 10:00 am - 11:00 am. Followed by Military Honors and a Celebration of Life service at 11:00 am and a luncheon at the close of the Celebration of Life service.

Online condolences may be shared at www.fryfuneralhome.com

Ken was born January 17, 1933 to Maynard and Genevieve (Howe) Herring on a farm south of Mechanicsville, Iowa. He attended Tipton High School – graduating in 1951 and then graduated from Iowa State University in 1955. While in high school, Ken was on the track and football teams and was in the music program playing first chair French horn in many small groups, the symphony, and concert band. During college, he was inducted into Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, played in the symphony orchestra, was in ROTC and graduated as a 2nd lieutenant. In 1953 he married Carolyn Johnston and they had two boys, Douglas and Michael.
Ken was inducted in the US Army through his college ROTC training, where he was promoted to 1st lieutenant in the Guided Missile Program. After serving in the Army in Texas, the family moved back to Mechanicsville where Ken started his farming career. In 1960, they purchased a farm. Ken also started his own business, Mechanicsville Grain. In 1962, while still farming, they moved to Bennett, Iowa where Ken was employed at the Bennett State Bank and later became a director. They moved back to their farm in 1965 and expanded their farming operation until 2001 when Ken partially retired. At that time, they moved to Tipton but Ken continued to help his son Mike farm in the spring and fall until he was 82 years old.
Throughout Ken’s whole life, he was a fisherman and that hobby took him all over the U. S. to pursue his love and skill. He and Carolyn spent 53 years canoeing and fishing in the Boundary Waters for walleye. They were honored to be in an article written about them in the, “Boundary Water Journal.” With their son Doug, who lived in Alaska, they spent five years fishing the Kenai River for sockeye salmon. For 40 years during winters while farming and in their retirement, the couple fished for bass and crappie in rivers and lakes in Florida. Ken enjoyed making new friends wherever he lived. Ken was a member of the United Church of Christ (UCC) where he was an elder. He also served on the Tipton School Board in the 1970s. 
Surviving Ken is his wife, Carolyn; son Douglas (Patty) in Canyon Lake, TX; Michael (Brenda) in Mechanicsville and three granddaughters – Dana (Gerritsen) and her husband Tristan, and Katie and Carlie Herring. He also has two great grandsons, Declan and Paxton Gerritsen living with their parents in California. Katie lives in Layton, Utah and Carlie lives in Germantown, Maryland; sisters-in-law, Marilyn Kotz and Kathy Johnston; and brother-in-law, Robert (Jo Ann) Johnston. He also has numerous nieces and nephews. Ken is preceded in death by his parents; his brother Ardis; and sister-in-law, Dorothy (Monaghan) Herring. 
Memorials may be written to Carolyn Herring and sent to 109 Parkview Ct., Tipton, IA. They will be divided between Iowa City Hospice, Cedar Manor and the UCC Church in Tipton.

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