Kenneth D. Feist

Kenneth D. Feist of Rowena, loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and a lifelong resident of Runnels County, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on April 13, 2013. He was 89.
A rosary will be prayed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Rowena. A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at the church at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 17. Interment will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery in Rowena.
Kenneth was born June 14, 1923, at home in Rowena to Fred and Antoinette (Dixon) Feist. He attended public schools in Rowena and briefly in Ballinger before enrolling in St. Joseph High School in Rowena, where he graduated in 1940.
He was attending St. Edward’s University in Austin at the outbreak of World War II. He enlisted and was called to active duty on May 6, 1943. As a member of Company D, 260th Regiment, 65th Infantry Division, he served in the European Theater during the closing months of World War II and the early months of occupation. He was honorably discharged with the rank of tech sergeant.
Kenneth married Irene Olsak in Rowena on July 17, 1944, and together they had 68 wonderful years. After the war, he went to work with his father and later took over the wholesale oil business. In 1966 he became Rowena’s rural mail carrier, a job he truly enjoyed because it allowed him to drive for hours through the farms and ranches. He retired in 1989.
He served in leadership roles in numerous religious and civic organizations. He was particularly proud of being a charter member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post #9196 in Rowena, and his more than 70 years of membership in the Knights of Columbus, many as a fourth degree knight.
He was also a charter member of Rowena’s Volunteer Fire Department, and belonged to the American Legion, Catholic Life Insurance Union, Sons of Hermann and other organizations.
Kenneth was a lifelong music lover. As a teenager he played tuba in the L.B. Baca Orchestra, continued with the dance orchestra at St. Ed’s, and sang bass for decades in the church choir. He liked nothing better than a good polka and dancing with Irene ’til the early morning hours.
He loved to travel, whether it was a leisurely Sunday drive or a trip across the country with friends or family. He was more than a little fond of the Hill Country in the spring, ice cream in the evening, hot coffee and a newspaper in the morning. He liked a good game of dominoes, saying “son of a biscuit eater,” and barbecue (making and eating). He was known to shoot the breeze with friends and strangers alike, and watch the grass grow. “Sometimes,” he said, “I sit and think. And sometimes I just sit.”
Survivors include his loving wife of 68 years, Irene; his children, Sandi Fuchs and husband Jim of Roseville, Minn., Charles Feist and wife Becky of Cleburne, Joe Michael Feist of Stephenville, and Frances Feist, and Jan Klaras and husband Jerry of Ballinger; 11 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. Survivors also include a brother, Fredric Feist of Gadsden, Ala., and sisters-in-law, Peggy Feist of Austin and Charlene Harral of San Angelo.
Grandchildren will serve as pallbearers.
Memorials may be made to The St. Joseph Building Fund or the charity of your choice.