Kenneth Howard Olmstead

Kenneth Olmstead, age 80, of Fruitland Township, died Sunday, May 1, 2022, at his home. Ken was born February 21,1942 in Flint, MI. He is the son of the late Meril and the late Marjorie Olmstead. He grew up in Flint, MI and attended Flint Central High School. In 1963 he enlisted in the United States Army and served during the Vietnam War. He was stationed in Bamberg, Germany where he found his passion for competitive pistol shooting.

Following an honorable discharge from the United States Army in 1967, Ken returned from Germany to Lansing, MI to begin work at Motor-Wheel Corporation. Working as a welder and a truck driver to provide for his growing family. Ken returned to military life in 1981, by enlisting with the Michigan Army National Guard in the 1461st Transportation unit. Rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant and served as the Captain of the Michigan All Guard Pistol Team.

In 1990, Ken's unit was deployed for active duty in Desert Storm. A truckmaster of the transportation unit in Saudi Arabia, supplying ground combat units in Iraq and Kuwait. Ken was awarded the Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait (Saudi Arabia) presented by Saudi King Fahd ibn Abdulaziz, along with a number of other accolades for his contributions over his 2 decade long military career. With an Honorable Discharge, Ken retired permanently from military service in 1994, and continued driving tractor-trailer OTR semi-trucks as his main career, working as an OTR Driver/Instructor until 2012.

Ken married Michael Ann Herrington on September 29, 1994 in Victorville, MI. Together they drove semi-trucks as a team cross-country for 9 years before she retired. They lived in Norton Shores, MI until 1997 when they moved to Florida, and traveled to different locations but ultimately returned to settle back into home life in Whitehall, MI in 2021.

Ken enjoyed hunting, riding his motorcycles, tinkering, shooting, and camping. Most of all, Ken was a devoted family man, and really enjoyed spending time with his many grandkids and great grandkids and dog Buddy.

He is survived by his wife: Michael Ann Olmstead ; 2 daughters: Dawn Olmstead, and Debbie (Guy) Hengesbach; 4 step-children: Michelle (Tom) Scott, Marlo (Vickie) Adkins, Meagan Thurik, James (Britt) Przybylski; and 18 grandchildren: Marie (Jason), Michelle (Jeff), Monica, Theron, Reece, Coty, Lindsay (Justin), Sarah (Caimon), Grace (Zach), Christian, Jacob, Alexis, Danny (Caitria), Mikayla, Johnny, and Zach, James and Lucas; several great-grandchildren; and the mother of his children, Jackie Olmstead, and his dog Buddy.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his children; Denise and Dennis Olmstead; brother, Donnie Olmstead; sister, Kathy Olmstead; and son-in-law, John Thurik.

Memorial Service for Ken will be CANCELED at this time. We will reschedule this for a future date. We need to reschedule due to Michael Ann Olmstead having COVID. Her doctor says she needs to stay in quarantine for at least another week and to not make any plans to attend public gathering for at least a month. When we have a confirmed date and time for the rescheduled Memorial I will update the information here for everyone to see. Please keep checking back but expect that it will be at least the end of August if not the beginning of September before this will happen. If you have any questions please call Marlo 586.615.3894. Thank you in advance for any prayers for Michael Ann.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to Michael Ann Olmsteads GoFundMe page as she will need to relocate since being widowed. https://www.gofundme.com/f/ken-michael-ann-olmstead-relocation-funeral?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1