Kenny Werner, 64 years of St. Leon, IN passed away peacefully while listening to Silent Night early on the morning of December 1, 2021. Affectionately known as “Taco” to many, Kenny was bestowed this nickname by his softball friends. Baseball was a passion of Kenny’s, whether he was playing, coaching, umpiring, or watching it, baseball was a part of who he was. He was a star left-handed pitcher in high school, played for college for a short time and tried out for the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos before he was cut due to his height. Kenny then moved to industrial and legion leagues until he found himself coaching baseball and softball for his children. Not ready to give up his love for sports, he umpired baseball, volleyball, softball, and basketball at East Central High School, other local schools and CYO leagues. He loved doing anything outside including hanging out at his fire pit and stove near the barn. You could find Kenny in the barn using his carpenter skills making items for his family and friends. He made tables for the house, an extremely heavy bar for the basement, a nativity set, and his most recent creation, shot sleds, which he loved to hand out. Kenny enjoyed hunting for deer and processed his own meat. For many years Kenny was a carpenter at Fernald where he often took on jobs no one else could do…like building and climbing scaffolding several stories in the air.
Family was Kenny’s pride and joy. The trips to Gatlinburg will always be fondly remembered as a favorite spot to visit and where many memories were made. Kenny and his wife, Loraine, loved to travel the world. They visited the Holy Land, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Netherlands, and Switzerland just to name a few. Kenny and Loraine also enjoyed weekly trips to Athens West Virginia to watch his youngest son, Nate, pitch for his college team. And, he was over the moon proud of his youngest son’s service in the Coast Guard. As a Grandpa, Kenny adored his granddaughters whom he loved to spoil. There was never a time when he didn’t share his love for peanut butter with his granddaughters and they always left with a handful of Reese cups. Even when communicating got tough for Kenny, he was still adamant about his girls getting their candy.
Kenny will be deeply missed by his wife of 32 years, Loraine, and children Ashley (Nick Philpot) Wolfe of Lawrenceburg, Matt (Amy) Wettering of Sunman, Nathaniel (Elaina Quinn) Werner of St. Leon; granddaughters Autumn Wolfe and Jorja Wettering; mother Polly Crawford of Harrison, OH; in-laws Judy (Jim) Sutthoff of Cincinnati, Mary Lou Jonas of St. Leon, Margie (Ken) Fluegeman of Milan, Carol (Dave) Schwanholt of Milan, John (Debbie) Schuman of Memphis, TN. Kenny is preceded in death by his father, Raymond Werner, and brother, Allen Werner.
Visitation will be held on Monday, December 6 at All Saints Parish Life Center at 7536 Church Lane, W. Harrison, IN 47060. Rosary will begin at 4:00pm and visitation will run from 4:15pm – 7:00pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, December 7 at 11:00 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church of All Saints Parish with Fr. Jonathan Meyer presiding. Burial will immediately follow. For those not able to attend, the Mass will be live streamed at https://www.youtube.com/user/aspweeklyhomily. Memorials can be made to St. Joseph Legion Post 464 and Margaret Mary Hospice. Memorials will be taken at the visitation or can be mailed to Andres-Wuestefeld Funeral Home, 25615 State Rt. 1, Guilford, IN 47022. Family and friends are encouraged to leave condolences at www.andres-wuestefeldfh.com.