Kenneth Lee Janicke, 83

Kenneth Lee Janicke passed away peacefully at his home in Talent, Oregon on April 17, 2024. 

He was born Nov. 11, 1940, in Chinook, Montana to Frank and Evelyn (Johnson) Janicke. 

He served in the Navy from 1958 to 1963 as a quartermaster on the USS Frank E. Evans. He was very proud of his service to his country. 

Ken was a wood craftsman, a carpenter and a concrete finisher who worked on the Libby Dam in the early 1970s. He later became a drug and alcohol counselor working in Libby, Montana, Spokane, Washington, and then retiring from the VA Domiciliary in White City, Oregon in 2000.

In 1960 he married his first wife, Linda McFarland while in the service in Long Beach. He became a father when his son Michael Harold was born in 1965. Ken and Linda divorced in 1971 and he moved back to Montana. He met his second wife Garie Dutton in Libby. He became a stepfather to Bill, Jeff and Tracy. He lost Garie to colon cancer in 2004. 

While working in White City, he came to know his friend and colleague Judith Kurinsky. They married in 2013 at their home in Talent, Oregon.

Ken was predeceased by his parents Frank and Evelyn; his siblings, Wayne Janicke, Frank Janicke Jr., Arlene Wheat; and wife Garie Janicke. 

His memory will be forever held in the hearts of his surviving family: His wife Judith Kurinsky, his children, Mike Janicke, Bill (Kim) Dutton, Jeff (Mechelle) Dutton, Tracy (Dennis) Dalby, Salome (Troy) Malos, Deborah Taylor; his seven grandchildren, Katie, Eric, Nicole, Avery, Collin, Michaela, Joshua; and many nieces and nephews.

Ken was laid to rest April 22, 2024, at the Eagle Point National Cemetery in Jackson County, Oregon. 

He will be remembered as a loving husband and father, a teacher, a mentor and a trusted friend.