KENNETH VANDEYACHT

Kenneth G. Vandeyacht, age 67, of Combined Locks, Wisconsin, was called home by the Creator on Tuesday, October 4th, 2022.  Born on December 7,1954 to Patricia and Mark Vandeyacht, he grew up in Combined Locks with his seven siblings. He was his mother's favorite - or at least that is what he always told everyone.  He was united in marriage to his soulmate, Barbara Wyngard, On October 1, 1981.  They enjoyed a lifetime of love and memory-making together for 25 years before her death in 2007.

Ken had an amazing repertoire of interests and hobbies.  He was a talented musician, employing lyrics he would hear in his dreams and writing music to them.  A lover of Folk and Americana music, he was particularly fond of the banjo and guitar and would play in the evenings out on his deck or in front of the fire with a glass of cabernet nearby. He recently completed the restoration of a late 1800's banjo and regularly carved Native American flutes.  In the 1970's, Ken was the long-haired drummer in a rock band called Peppermint Ridge, which took him on many trips around the midwest.  Ken had begun to teach his granddaughter to play the guitar before his death. 

Ken was a collector of anything he found beautiful.  He enjoyed vintage glass that he would turn into stained glass projects, hunting for unique antiques, but most of all he loved trips out west with his close friend Craig Hribal in pursuit of fossils, arrowheads, and groundedness to our sacred earth. He was spiritually connected to the teachings and ceremonies that he attended at The Hannahville Band of Potawatomi in Michigan, where he was affectionately known as Ktthe Mko Gabo, meaning "Big Bear Standing."  He had been painstakingly studying the language before he passed.  

Ken enjoyed time exploring the world with family and friends. His travels took him to Europe/Germany to see his wife's family, to Guatemala to visit his daughter while she studied there, to Hawaii to celebrate 25 years of marriage to Barb shortly before her passing, to Mexico for fun with friends, to Trinidad to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity along side his bonus daughter Mandy Jansen, on a cruise to exotic Caribbean islands with his kids, and many trips to the American West. In recent years, he began an annual trip to Destin, Florida to enjoy the beach with his close friends including Randy and Debbie Jansen.  He loved time in the northwoods with family and he enjoyed a trip to Washington Island this summer, making memories zip-lining with his granddaughter. 

What Ken is perhaps known best for is his career in the culinary arts world.  After going back to school at FVTC in pursuit of his dreams, Ken and Barb transformed a dilapidated Marcus Theatre building on Oneida Street in Appleton into a thriving wedding and banquet facility, The Grand Meridian, in 2005. Before this, he was a staple at Marks East Side restaurant.  He was also known for throwing amazing dinner parties with friends, his uncanny ability to make delicious breads and meats, lovingly making pasta with his granddaughter, and his love for wines and world cuisines.  Chef Ken also regularly used his gifts to give back to the community; hosting, serving, or donating meals to several community organizations that feed the hungry, allowing the outside of his building to be used as a service-project mural, and lending his mentorship to students wanting to become restaurateurs.  Ken's career left a lasting impression on his children as well, his son becoming a chef and then a food scientist, his daughter becoming an entrepreneur.

Whether you were on the receiving end of his cooking or a small joke at your expense, Ken made you feel loved and you always walked away with a forever friend.  Out of all of Ken's adventures, he would tell you that his favorite was time spent being “Papa” to his granddaughter, Aarti.  They shared an incredibly close bond and would enjoy the History Channel, gardening, Jeopardy, telling tall tales and jokes to each other and playing card games. He made the mundane magical for her and they had plans to skydive when she turned 18 and travel out west together this summer.

We don't understand why Ken was suddenly called home.  He was historically able to cheat death; falling through ice on the Fox River as a child, huffing gasoline until becoming delirious as a youth playing "gas station attendant", an accidental firing of a shotgun into the floor by an older brother who “thought it was unloaded”, kidney failure and a subsequent transplant, a tree falling on his truck, type 1 diabetes, having difficulty with a respirator while diving in Lake Superior, experiencing a pop-up storm during a flight lesson, having COVID-19, and once driving his vehicle off a cliffside in the Badlands.  It must have simply been enough adventure for one lifetime.

We celebrate that Ken has been reunited with the love of his life, Barb. He is further preceded in death by his parents, his in-laws; Lilo and Marty Wyngard, two brothers; Jim and Dan, and his niece Jules Joosten.

He is survived by his loving children; Michelle (Ezra Schoonover) and Christopher, his very special granddaughter Aarti Sharma, siblings; Bill, Tom, Patty Joosten, Kathy Vander Velden, and Jean Kieffer, his wonderful brothers and sisters in law from both sides of the family, many adored nieces and nephews, a plethora of dear friends, two grandcats, and our loyal “farm dog” Aimee-girl. 

We want to thank Sue Lamers, Joe Warden, and Joe Montour and all of the staff past and present at the Grand Meridian for continuing to run the business so seamlessly.  We also honour Dave Bushey, Ken's kidney donor in 2017, for giving Ken five more years here with us that he would not have otherwise had.  

Ken was simply one-of-a-kind.  Completely irreplaceable, he will forever be remembered as a man who exuded kindness, integrity, service to others, light-heartedness, true friendship, vibrancy and grit. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund is being established in Ken's name.

A funeral service for Ken will be held at 4:30 P.M. on Thursday, October 13, 2022 at Neenah's Westgor Funeral Home. A visitation will be held from 2:00 P.M. until the hour of service.

Ken's love language was sharing and enjoying food with others.  Everyone is welcome at the Grand Meridian for a meal and friendship after the conclusion of his service at Westgor.

Ken will be interred next to his wife at Riverside Cemetery in Appleton in a private ceremony.