- Vandehey, Glen "Banjo Man"Glen Vandehey "Banjo Man" Kimberly, Age 84, died after a courageous batt le with Parkinson's disease on Thursday, July 21, 2005, at Brewster Villag e. Glen was born January 11, 1921, to the late Alfred and Theresa (Gree n) Vandehey in Kaukauna. He married the former Marian Jansen on Septemb er 14, 1946, at St. John's Parish in Little Chute. Glen entered the U.S. A rmy in 1942 and was a member of the 88th Signal Battalion (spc) 233rd Sign al Operations Company. He was stationed in the South Pacific for 30 month s, spending 7 grueling days behind enemy lines. Glen assisted in the Liber ation of the Philippines and was finally transferred to Japan one day aft er the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Army. He was honorably discharg ed in 1945 and soon returned to Kaukauna and began working for Thilmany Pu lp and Paper. He began his career in the ink room and moved up with the co mpany to his retirement position in research and development in technic al sales. He retired in 1983 after completing 43 years and 8 months of ser vice to Thilmany. Glen was a self-taught musician, specializing in the Ban jo, in his younger days he and his family would entertain residents of loc al nursing homes with their musical talents. He scored a Hole-In-One on Au gust 25th, 1967, at Hickory Hills Golf Course and enjoyed golf througho ut his life. In 1972, Glen began building, by hand, his log cabin in Fenc e, WI. He started with a picture window and found great satisfaction wh en he completed it. Glen was a poet; he penned many, many poems over the y ears. The popularity of these poems caused a great stir among friends, fam ily and coworkers as they would ask him to write specific ditties about fa mily life and retirement. Glen was a member of the Quarter Century Club (P ast President), American Legion Post 258 of Little Chute, and the Boy Scou ts of America. He worked as a Scout Master, was an Eagle Scout and earn ed the Silver Beaver, St. George and the Order of the Arrow Award. Glen al so volunteered for many years for the Gardner Dam Camp as a counselor a nd cook.He is survived by his wife, Marian Vandehey; his five children, Judy (Elme r) Van Dyke and their three children, Jeffrey (Kim), Jonathan (Tara) and J enny (Ron) Bahr, Mary (David) Verboomen and their three children, Christop her (Kay), Steven & Amie, John (Valerie) Vandehey and their five childre n, Shannan, Stefanie, Samantha, Shawn Behrens & Nicholas Behrens, Debra (K evin) Van Dynhoven and their two children, Jessica & Jason, Mark (Sheil a) Vandehey and their two children, Ryan & Katie; nine great-grandchildre n, Logan, Emmaline, Jacqi, Steve, Kayden, Xander, Satia, Nova and Makenna h. He will also be missed by a brother, Eugene (Joann) Vandehey, two siste rs, Roseanne (Joseph) Appleton and Janet Vandehey and a brother in law, Ja mes Strick. He was preceded in death by his parents, his infant son, his m other- and father-in-law, John & Esther (Garvey) Jansen, a brother and sis ter-in-law, Milton & Florence Vandehey, a sister-in-law, Ruth Strick a nd a brother and sister-in-law, Paul & Arlene Jansen.Glen's Mass of Christian Burial will be 5:00 p.m. on Monday July 25, 200 5, at ST. PAUL'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, 410 E. Wallace Street, Combined Locks, w ith Fr. Robert Vandenberg and Fr. Jim Lucas concelebrating. Friends wi ll be received on Monday at the Church from 2:30 p.m. until the time of se rvice. Full Military Burial Rites will be performed after services outsi de the Church by the American Legion Post 258 of Little Chute. Interment w ill take place on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. in St. John Catholic Cemetery in L ittle Chute.In lieu of flowers, a donations may be directed to Brewster Village or t he American Parkinson's Association. The Boettcher Family Funeral Home, Ka ukauna is assisting the family. 766-2099.Glen's family would like to thank the staff at Brewster Village, especial ly the staff on Lawrence Hall, and Dr. Deb Schultz, Dr. Jack Anderson a nd Dr. Steven Price for all the care and compassion they gave Glen. They w ould also like to thank Fr. Bob Vandenberg and Fr. Jim Lucas for the guida nce and prayer during this very difficult time.
As Glen would say "It's always better above highway 8."
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1921 - 2005 (84 years)
[1] 
Education - High School
