Kenneth Randall "Ken" Behnke

Kenneth Randall Behnke, 76, of Loyal, WI, passed away unexpectedly on August 15, 2025, doing what he loved, helping his son on the farm.
A celebration of Ken's life will be held on Saturday, September 6, 2025, at the Loyal American Legion from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. At noon there will be a simple memorial service where visitors can share a story or memory about Ken.
Ken was born August 21, 1948 in Neillsville, WI, to Arthur and Velda Behnke. He married the love of his life, Mary Kay Lindner on August 5, 1978, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenwood, WI. They celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary on August 05, 2025.
Ken was educated at the Lyon's Country School in Loyal, later graduating from Loyal High School in 1966. He attended UW-River Falls for four years then returned to Loyal where he began his career as a dairy farmer. Ken served on the Chili Milk Pool board several years. He was selected as 'Young Farmer of the Year' in 1980 and as such Ken and Mary Kay with their first born got to ride on a float in the Loyal Corn Fest parade that year. They continued to farm and raised their five children until he sold his cows in 2000. This did not lead to Ken's retirement though–he went on to raise beef cattle until passing on the family homestead to his son, Ted, in 2020, and moving to town. Although he was no longer living on the farm, Ken continued to work alongside Ted and Carrie. Moving to town did allow Ken to enjoy a simpler life where he was able to spend more time doing things he loved: gardening, taking walks around town and driving around the countryside checking out the crops with Mary Kay. Throughout his life, Ken has been a sports fan. He was on a winning basketball team in high school and spent much of his early adult life playing in softball leagues around central WI, being known as the Tater (home run) King on the Stichert ball team in Chili. Ken especially loved attending his children's and grandchildren's sporting events. A big plus of moving to town for him was being able to watch the Packers, Brewers, Badgers, Bucks, golf tournaments and any other sporting events he could find.
Ken also loved country music. He was in a band with his good friend Gerald LaBarge during high school. They wrote some music together and got a couple of their songs copyrighted. Even though the songs were never picked up by anyone to perform they continued to play their guitars whenever they got together. They attended many music performances over the years and even made it to Nashville and the Grand Old Opry once or twice.
He is survived by his loving wife, Mary Kay (Lindner) Behnke of Loyal; his children, Katie (Jason) Mechelke of Marathon, Joe (Kim) Behnke of Hudson, Ted (Carrie) Behnke of Loyal, Heidi (Joe) Brockner of Eau Claire, Andrew (Sami) Behnke of Eau Claire; his nine grandchildren, Velda, Violet, and Vaida Mechelke; Will and Rosalie Behnke; Abigail and Aaron Brockner; Bennett and Baylor Behnke; his sister, Velora Roehl of Loyal; Brothers -in law Charles (Denise) Lindner, Gregory (Donna) Lindner, Mark(Connie) Lindner, Dennis (Michelle) Lindner, Dale (Diane) Lindner, Sister-in-law Monica Ruzic and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Velda Behnke; brother, Duane; sister, Darlene Zinthefer; and brother-in-law, Lowell Roehl.
In lieu of flowers, cash memorials will be used for the continuing of the Loyal Walking Path Project, one of Ken and Mary Kay's favorite places to walk.