Kenneth Lee Santee was born Dec. 19, 1924, to Earl and Helen Santee in Damascus, OH. He died Mar. 18, 2018, at the age of 93 under hospice care at the Veterans Hospital in Des Moines.
Kenneth served in the Army before attending Marion College in Marion, IN. There he met Pauline Rayle while traveling with the college choir. One day Kenneth asked her, “Why don’t we take life together?” They were married Nov. 25, 1949, in the Wesleyan Church at Beulah, MI. They returned to college for him to finish semester final exams. Kenneth went on to complete his schooling at Asbury Seminary.
Their first son, Stephen, was born Oct. 25, 1955, in Ohio, and their second son, Samuel, was born Mar. 3, 1961, in Arizona.
Pauline and Kenneth were a perfect example of “two becoming one.” Kenneth and Pauline shared a ministry of service during their life together in Cuba, OH, and Cottonwood, AZ, then moving to Scranton, Earlham, and Lynnville in Iowa. After retiring from Lynnville Friends Church in 1990, they moved back to Arizona to do volunteer service at the WGM Southwest Indian School in Peoria. After 24 years in Arizona, Kenneth returned to Iowa in 2015.
Along with his dedicated service to the Lord, he often supported his family by laying brick. He was an avid bird watcher, often identifying over 100 species per year. Gardening came easy since he was raised on a farm and provided much wonderful food for his family. Around retirement age, he took up bicycling and completed two of the annual RAGBRAI bicycling ride across Iowa.
Kenneth is survived by sons, Stephen (Linda) and Samuel (Deb) Santee; grandchildren Joy (Jeff) Santee-Lee, Philip (Danielle) Santee, Anita and Kamy Montgomery; one “Precious” great-grandson Leo Santee; a sister, Marjorie Phillips; a brother, Dean Santee; a brother-in-law, Guy Rayle Jr.; and many nieces and nephews.
Kenneth was preceded in death by his wife Pauline of 63 years, his parents, and three brothers (Wendell, Herb, and Irving “in infancy”).
A celebration of life was held Sunday, Mar. 25, noon-1:30 p.m. at the Pizza Ranch in Pella (Ken’s favorite place to eat). With buffet available to purchase, the back room was reserved to celebrate and share with Ken’s family how Ken has influenced lives.
Graveside service followed at around 2 p.m., after allowing travel time to the Lynnville Friends Cemetery just north of Lynnville. The family requested no flowers but would be honored if you felt led to make a donation in memory of Kenneth to your local hospice program.
