Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND001 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 271997
Title: Kenneth A. Barnhart
Date: 8/10/1941-11/30/2025
Creator:
Inscription/Marks: 8/10/1941
Summary: Kenneth Barnhart, 84, of Dickinson, ND, passed away November 30, 2025, at CHI St. Alexius Health, Bismarck, ND. A funeral service was held December 8, 2025, at St. John Lutheran Church in Dickinson with Pastor Lisa Lewton and Pastor Mary officiating. Burial was in the spring of 2026. Kenneth Alfred Barnhart was born in Belfield, ND, on August 10, 1941, the son of Ralph and Florence (Knudtson) Barnhart. Ken acquired the nickname "Bunky" in his early years. He grew up in the Fryburg area, graduating from Fryburg High School in 1959. Following graduation, he enlisted in the US Army. Ken worked at the Medora Musicals before he left for his military assignment. After his honorable discharge, he returned to Belfield where he met his lifetime best friend, Leona Hecker. The couple was married in Dickinson at St. Joseph's Catholic Church on October 24, 1964. Ken and Leona were blessed with two children, Troy and Lisa. He worked in Belfield in the oilfield, on oil rigs and for Amerada-Hess, until the family moved to Bowman in 1976. Ken was a production foreman with Luff Exploration for the next 30+ years. After his retirement, Ken and Leona moved back to Dickinson. Ken enjoyed golfing and hunting, especially elk hunting trips. He loved old tractors and watching the Denver Broncos. Ken was a member of the Elks. He was very close with his siblings and made sure to stay in touch. He was always a helping hand to anyone who needed him and his family was blessed to have him always checking in on them. Friends and employees have all expressed what a good man he was. His kind and giving heart will be missed. Ken is survived by his wife of 61 years, Leona; son, Troy (Tina) Barnhart; daughter, Lisa (Brett) Buican; grandchildren, Kyler and Keiana Buican, and Cheyden Paulson; step-granddaughters, Heather and Amber; step-great-grandchildren, Liam, Serenity, Sebastian and Sawyer; brother, Faron (Kiddo) Barnhart; sisters, Blanche Barnhart, Shirley (Chuck) Irons, Janice Okpanachi (Isaac), Beverly Turbiville (Walter); brother-in-law, Edwin Hecker (Eva), sister-in-law, Sister Laura Hecker; numerous nieces, nephews and extended family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph and Florence; brothers, Andrew and Sheridan Barnhart; granddaughter, Zoey Paulson.
Red ID: FND_I_79492 Image ID: 547529 Image Notes: FND001 2719972

Collection: FND001 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Date: -

Summary: The North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program is sponsored by the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. The life stories of deceased North Dakotans are featured in an archvied collection. Current partners in the project are Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, Bismarck Evans Funeral Homes, Carrington and New Rockford Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home, Williston Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga Fulkerson Funeral Home, Watford City Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Williston Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck Springan Stevenson Funeral Home, Stanley Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson These funeral homes provide recent obituaries to the Foundation, where staff and volunteers format, edit and archive each memorial. The memorials are posted, and copies are sent to the family for their input and approval. The listing currently features more than 13,000 memorials, and is constantly updated as new memorials and histories are received.

Enter a subject or term in one or both of the “Search” boxes.

  • “Item Detail” searches the Title, Creator and Summary fields of all item-level records.
  • “Collection Number” searches the Collection Number field only and requires an exact match.

The “DETAILS” button provides additional information about an item, as well as the following options:

  • “Collection Summary” details the contents of the entire collection in which the selected item is located.
  • You can print the image and its corresponding details by selecting “Print".
  • “Digitized Images from the Collection” returns a list of all digitized items within that collection (available from the “Collection Summary” screen).

Click on image to expand/zoom the image view.

“Photobook home” takes you back to the main Photobook page where you can start a new search.

“Featured Collections” showcases new and/or popular collections and the digitized images within those collections.

Information on how to order copies is located here.

The collections preserved in the North Dakota State Archives include over a million images. Only a small percentage of these images have been digitized. This photo gallery provides a preview of the images that have been digitized.

For more information on the non-digitized images, please refer to the finding aids found on our website at history.nd.gov, or ask a member of our reference staff for assistance.