Kenny Farden, age 86 of Maxbass, passed away on Monday, March 7, 2022 at a Mohall nursing home.  His funeral will be held on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 2:00 pm at the English Lutheran Church in Maxbass.  Visitation will be Friday from 4:00 pm until 6:00 pm at the Church.  Burial will be at the Graceland Cemetery near Maxbass.

Kenny Farden was born July 17, 1935 in Bottineau, ND to Alvin (Ole) and Helen (Haakenson) Farden. He was one of six children, raised in Maxbass and graduated from Maxbass High School on May 28, 1953. Kenny served in the United States Army from January 27, 1958 to January 26, 1961. He married Lila Bernice Hulse on October 15, 1964 in Westhope, North Dakota. From this union, two sons, Todd and Steven, were born. Kenny and Bernice lived in Maxbass.

Kenny spent the first part of his career working with his Father and Brothers in the house moving business. From there he began a concrete business, forming and pouring concrete at numerous farms in the surrounding counties. Out of that, he started delivering cement to the drilling rigs in the area. The cement came in 94-pound bags and arrived in box cars on the train. He would load and unload each of the bags, by hand, three times before he sold them. A game changer came in 1972 when he erected his cement silo that still stands in the Maxbass yard. Kenny's boys rode with Dad when he delivered cement to the Haliburton rig. He was so proud to have the work and would tell them how much easier it was to do now with the cement silo, as he no longer had to handle cement bags. Kenny instilled a work ethic in his boys from a very young age and even bought them an old crusher to use to produce gravel for the rigs, townships and counties. He and the boys then began purchasing heavy equipment and got into the earthwork service industry.

Kenny loved the fall of the year, burying trees and rock piles and in the spring, pulling out stuck pieces of equipment. During the last 15 years, we got back into the moving business, but this time it was Oil Drilling Rigs. We once asked Dad why he like moving rigs and he said, "I enjoy doing things no one else does." At the time of his retirement, Kenny amassed over 100 pieces of heavy equipment, five crushing plants, over 70 trucks and employed 130 plus people. He also had the privilege of working with and for hundreds of other individuals and loved to tell his stories to anyone who would listen.

After Bernice passed away, Kenny started the next phase of his life by purchasing a Harley Davidson motorcycle. He tried to never miss a Wednesday night ride with his friends in the Minot HOG club. Kenny would load up the Harley in the winter and head south, pulling into the first Caterpillar dealer without snow and leaving the car and trailer and jumping on his bike to go ride for a few months.  We never knew it, but Kenny had a passion for horses. He shared with us that he once bought a horse from a neighbor and tied it up at the well south of the house and once Bernice found out, it was quickly returned. (We then got a Honda 3-wheeler) Therefore, once his youngest granddaughter, Samantha, expressed an interest in riding and having a horse, he spent countless hours taking her to ride at Langseth's, going to barrel races and taking care of the horses in Maxbass.  Kenny also shared his love of music by purchasing his oldest granddaughter, Lila, three guitars. He loved to sit and listen to her sing and play while he'd make special requests to which she would perform. One of his favorites was Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash. Each time after she'd sing, he'd chuckle and say he just didn't know how she did it.

To many Kenny was the Man of Steel, the man with a funny one liner who cared about others and didn't want to infringe upon their time, to us, he was our rock and foundation that we were blessed to call Father and Papa.

Kenny was a member of the English Lutheran Church of Maxbass.

Kenny was preceded in death by his wife, Bernice in 1992, parents, his brothers, Ardell Farden, Russell Farden and Donald Farden, his sister, Norma Andersen, sister-in-law Beth Houmann, and brothers-in-law Leroy Houmann and Emil Andersen.

Kenny is survived by his special friend Janet Langseth, sons Todd Farden, Steve Farden and wife Teralyn, his beloved granddaughters Lila Bernice and Samantha Gail Farden, sister Carol (Fred) Boger and sisters-in-law Joanne Farden, Marie Farden, Bette Hingst and Barb Holzer, brother-in-law John Hulse, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be given to the English Lutheran Church or Graceland Cemetery in Maxbass, ND

Arrangements were with Nero Funeral Home in Bottineau.