Kenneth R. Freyholtz, 84, of Tripoli, Iowa, died Wednesday, September 12, 2012, at the Bartels Lutheran Home in Waverly.

Funeral Services will be held 10:30 A.M. Saturday, September 15, 2012 at Grace Lutheran Church in Tripoli with Rev. Miles Renaas officiating. Friends may call from 4:00 to 7:00 P.M. Friday, September 14, 2012 at the Rettig Funeral Home in Tripoli and for one hour before the service at the church on Saturday. Burial will be at Grace Lutheran Cemetery, Tripoli with military rites by Thomas E. Woods Post #223, American Legion of Sumner. A Memorial Fund has been established in his name.  

Kenneth Roland Freyholtz, son of Arnold and Marie Micke Freyholtz, was born April 23, 1928, in Renville County, Minnesota. He was baptized May 13, 1928, at Wellington Lutheran Church in Fairfax, Minnesota and confirmed May 25, 1941, at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hector, Minnesota. He graduated from Fairfax High School in 1946, and was the class salutatorian. Following high school graduation, he worked in accounting and bookkeeping at International Harvester in Fairfax. From January 24, 1951, to January 30, 1953, he served with the U.S. Army in Korea and was honorably discharged. He was united in marriage with Ordella Kern on January 23, 1955, at Fairfax, Minnesota. He returned to work at International Harvester following his military service. He then began working at IMC (International Minerals and Chemicals) and was transferred to Tripoli, Iowa in 1961, where he started the fertilizer plant in the old cannery building there. While at the plant he also began farming in 1967, and farmed until 1997. He worked forDeere & Co. in Waterloo from 1972 until retiring in 1993. Kenny and Ordella moved into Tripoli in 2008. In addition to his farming and work at Deere & Co., he enjoyed fishing, RV camping, playing cards, computer work and record keeping, and was an avid John Deere toy collector. He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Tripoli, where he had served on the church council and participated in the Men In Mission. He was also a member of the Thomas E. Woods Post #223, American Legion of Sumner.

He is survived by his wife, Ordella of Tripoli; two daughters, Patsy (Danny) Buls of Sumner and Vicky (Dan) Bury of Coon Rapids, Minnesota; three grandchildren, Tony (Megan) Buls, LeAnn (Andrew) Meyer, and Aaron Bury; three great grandchildren, Alex and Aubree Buls and Johnny Meyer; and two sisters, Florentine “Tina” Olson of Eugene, Oregon and Betty Ann Zollner of Paynesville, Minnesota.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Waldemar; and two brothers-in-law, Vincent Olson and Fred Zollner.