At his request, no services will be held for 89-year old Kenneth “Ken” Lotton of Harrison, NE.
Kenneth Roy Lotton was born in Havre, Montana on June 24, 1934 to Roy and Lydia Lotton. He passed away April 3, 2024.
Ken began his schooling in Laredo, MT, then continued his high school education in Havre, where he spent his free time working at Angstman Motors as a car washer and eventually grease rack.
It was there in 1951 that he got the courage to ask his boss if he could take the business’s new convertible to prom. His boss agreed, and Ken was one proud kid to be driving that cherry red rag top.
After graduating high school, Ken stayed in Havre to attend Northern Montana College – where he met Mary Runnion. Mary was studying elementary education, whereas Ken was studying nothing in particular.
Things changed for him when one of the professors quit the college and took a position as school superintendent in Merriman, NE. He talked Ken into focusing his studies on elementary education with the plan of taking him along to teach in Nebraska. Ken then persuaded Mary to join him, and they both accepted teaching positions in Merriman.
On November 27, 1953, Ken and Mary were married at 6th Ave Christian Church in Havre, but in January of 1954, the couple had the chance to lease 800 acres at Laredo. They gave up their teaching positions in Merriman and moved back to Montana to farm and ranch.
In 1955, their first child Kenneth Bradley was born and in 1957 along came Kevin Roy. In spring of 1958, Ken and his two brothers purchased a Minneapolis Moline implement business in Havre. Later that year in the fall, their third son, Keith Marion, was born. In 1961, Ken and Mary decided to purchase a farm in Canada, and in June of that year a daughter, Barbara Jo, was born.
It was harvest time of 1961 when the young family moved to Vidora, Saskatchewan, Canada, but they did not move permanently – instead, they jockeyed back-and-forth between Montana and Canada to get all the farm work done.
In 1965, Ken got a chance to buy a bigger farm back in Montana, so they sold the cows in Canada, rented the farm temporarily, and later sold it.
They continued to farm and expand in the Box Elder area of Montana until 1994 when they moved to Ardmore, SD. They continued to farm and ranch there until retiring in Harrison, NE. They spent some of their retirement years in Coeur A’lene, ID, before finally settling down outside of Crawford, NE.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents Roy and Lydia; brothers Arthur and George; son Keith; and grandchildren Royce, Angie, and David.
He is survived by his wife of 70 years Mary; sons Brad and Kevin (Lori); daughter Barb (Tyke); daughter-in-law Tricia; grandchildren Sarah (Nick), Kenny (Kristy), Kody (Chelsea), Justin (Amber), Jason (Joi), Nick (Nancy), Larissa (Vince), Nolan Lotton; great-grandchildren Devyn (Tanner), Michael, Zoey, Kalen (Colton), Kenna, Killian, Kolt, Tala, Sebastian, Gideon, Riley, Desi, Pyper, Eriss and Tulula; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.