Duane R. Kuhns

Duane R. Kuhns, 75, of Benton Harbor; loving husband, father, and grandfather; went to meet his Lord & Savior on Tuesday, May 13, 2003, at Lakeland Hospital under the professional and compassionate care of the CCU Team. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 10:00 A.M. Friday at the First Church of God, 2627 Niles Rd., St. Joseph with Rev. Robert Confer and Rev. Greg Prather officiating. Burial will follow in Hickory Bluff Cemetery, Stevensville. Friends may call on Thursday from 3-5 & 7-9 P.M. at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Memorials may be made to the First Church of God Endowment Fund. Those wishing to share a memory or sign the guest book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Duane was born on February 6, 1928 in Dowagiac, Michigan. He was raised by his grandparents-William & Myrta Kuhns in Marcellus. Duane spent 55 years with the IBEW, Local 876, retiring in 1991 as an electrical journeyman. The majority of those years, he was employed by Clifton Engineering of Three Rivers. For the last ten years following his retirement, Duane had been employed by Sparkle Enterprises of Benton Harbor. Duane was a member of the First Church of God where he participated in small group fellowship. Duane had a Servant?s Heart. There wasn?t anything that he couldn?t fix, and he enjoyed helping others with projects or troubleshooting. Duane had a keen sense of humor, he always had a joke or a story. Duane enjoyed the outdoors-working in his vegetable garden, on the landscaping around the house, or spending time on the golf course. Duane is survived by his wife-Sharon (Ridley) Kuhns whom he married on October 2, 1970 in Stevensville; his children, and their spouses whom he thought of as his own children-Jean (Terry) Miller of Trenton, MI; Ginger (Tim) Kelm of Stevensville; Cindy Rae (Mike) Hohnstein of Stevensville; Lori (Earl) Small of Benton Harbor; Dena (Andy) Squires of Mt. Pleasant, MI; Scott Olson of St. Louis, Missouri; Dale (Kathy) Olson of Albuquerque, NM; nine grandchildren-Lisa (Todd) Nielsen; Kristina (Brian) Pennington; Alicia Sedillo; Jason Kelm; Amy Kelm; David Small; Emily Small; Sara Knight; Jacob Repking; three great-grandchildren-Elaina & Grace Nielsen, & Molly Pennington; and a sister Doris Parrish of Denver, CO. Duane was preceded in death by his first wife-Kathryn Kuhns in July, 1952; a son-Ricky Lee Kuhns on January 9, 1996, and by three brothers-William, Dean, & Dale.