Kenneth E. Kartman

1936 - 2025

Kenneth E. Kartman

January 17, 1936 - August 13, 2025

Kenneth E. Kartman (Sr.), age 89, surrounded by his wife and family, entered into eternal life with his Lord and Savior on August 13, 2025.

He was born in Port Wing, Wisconsin, on January 17, 1936, to Elsie Alice (Vanag) Kartman and Harold Kenneth Kartman.

During Ken's teenage years he and his family moved to Chicago where his father took a job at The Proctor and Gamble Company.

After high school, Ken enrolled in the United States Navy and spent 4 years as a Machinist's Mate on the USS Wyandotte. He loved his time in the Navy where he finally got the chance to "see the world"...with the highlight of his career being that he was a part of "Operation Deep Freeze" with Admiral Richard Byrd in 1955-56, where they established the first permanent U.S. Antarctic bases.

Ken had met the love of his life, Elizabeth (Betty) Marie Wagner, while still in high school and the couple were married on April 30, 1955. They celebrated their 70-year anniversary earlier this spring.

Following his commitment to the Navy, he applied his boiler engineering skills at The Proctor and Gamble Company in Chicago, Illinois. He and Betty had three children at this time (Karen, Ken Jr., and Lynn), but moved the family to Menomonie, Wisconsin, when he took a position at the Stout State (UW-Stout) Heating Plant.

Ken and Betty added one more child to their family (daughter, Lori), and continued to raise their family and live in Menomonie until his retirement from Stout in 1998.

Ken loved hunting, trapping, fishing and telling sea stories. He was a volunteer firefighter for the Menomonie Fire Department.

After all the children grew up and started families of their own, Ken and Betty built their retirement home and moved to Ivins, Utah...in the beautiful "Red Mountain" area.

Ken is survived by his wife, Betty Kartman; daughter, Karen (Chris) Rzeszutek; son, Ken (Heidi) Kartman; daughter, Lynn (Carl) Norloff; and daughter, Lori Awad. He is also survived by his 12 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren (to date).

He was preceded in death by his mother, Elsie; father, Harold; step-mother, Emily; and sister, Barbara (Charles) Luetz.

John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?"

John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

For a more detailed obituary visit https://www.mcarthurfuneralservices.com/