Obituaries : Kenneth F. Horning

VINTON – Kenneth Freeman Horning, 76, died March 7, 2014, at his home in Vinton due to an accidental fall.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 29, 2014, at the Vinton Presbyterian Church. Inurnment with military rites will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton.
Kenneth was born November 20, 1937, in Vinton, Iowa, the son of Clarence and Ethel Pingenot Horning. He was a 1956 graduate of Washington High School in Vinton.
Following graduation, Kenneth enlisted in the United States Air Force and served for 28 years and one day. He was stationed in Korea, Okinawa, Vietnam, Texas, West Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, Florida and the island of Shemya in outer Alaska. He worked as an Aerospace Control & Warning System Technician (Automated Functional Applications Analyst/Radar Specialist), retiring in 1984 as a Master Sergeant.
While on R&R in Tokyo, Japan, Kenneth met his future wife, Kumi Kay Uzawa. The couple married in Tokyo on February 1, 1962. She preceded him in death on April 11, 2002.
Kenneth loved to travel and visited places such as Thailand and Hawaii.
Kenneth was an outdoorsman who loved hunting, fishing and gardening. He enjoyed inventing things, “tinkering” and repurposing everything he could. He also liked movies and educational books and was a technology buff.
Kenneth was a member of the Vinton Presbyterian Church. He was a generous man, making donations to Feed the Children, Friends of Iowa Public Television, the Vinton Lutheran Home, and Operation Smile, a charity benefitting children suffering from cleft palate.
Kenneth is survived by one sister, Karen Donnellan of Vinton; brother-in-law Carl Edmonds; sister-in-law Carol Horning; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; two sisters: Patricia Edmonds and Fern Horning; and one brother, LeRoy Horning.
Memorial contributions may be made to Feed the Children, P.O. Box 36, Oklahoma City, OK 73101-0036. More information may be found at feedthechildren.org.
Van Steenhuyse-Russell Funeral Home of Vinton is caring for Kenneth and his family. Condolences may be left at vsrfh.com.