Kenneth James “Kenny” De Kam was born January 15, 1941, in Rock Valley, IA, the son of Peter and Marie (Ver Mulm) De Kam. He grew up on a farm in rural Sheldon, IA along with his brother and sister. He attended the local country school, finishing his formal education in Sheldon.

    On June 4, 1960, Kenny was united in marriage to Patricia Ann Postma. They spent their entire married life on the De Kam family farm north of Sanborn, IA where Kenny managed his ag operation consisting of cattle, hogs and row crops. Eventually their family was made complete with two daughters and four sons.

    In the 1980’s, Kenny embarked on a new enterprise - distributing frozen handmade pizzas, fresh meat and meat snacks throughout the states of Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. He thoroughly enjoyed delivering to his many customers and getting to know them personally. Since his business involved traveling and meeting lots of new people, he seized that opportunity for spreading God’s love and the message of Jesus, who sacrificed himself on the cross for us all. Most importantly, he taught his children and grandchildren, who he loved so very much, to know and follow the Lord, so that one day they would be together in Heaven.

    Following Pat’s death in 2007, Kenny remained on the farm and looked forward to visits from the grandkids. He made it a point to teach every single grandchild how to drive a car and a four-wheeler (safely, of course). He spent as much time as possible guiding and teaching his grandkids as well as having lots of fun with them - even if that only meant eating hot dogs and ice cream for two days, riding four-wheelers, playing in the pool, and driving to town in the golf cart. When he retired, he continued “farming” on a smaller scale with vegetable gardening. He spent his time outdoors showing his grandchildren how to work the soil and produce a crop, whether it was tomatoes, sweet corn, or any of the other vegetables. After a hot afternoon of chasing weeds, he’d take off on his four-wheeler just to cool down and see what was going on.

    Later in life, Kenny married Donna M. Golden on January 15, 2017. They began enjoying country life together, spending time outdoors and adding to the landscape by planting flowers. He also started an ongoing garage sale, where he had more opportunity to spread the Good News with the people who stopped in, handing out religious tracts and sharing God’s love with them. Reading the Bible and understanding it’s meaning became a passion of his as well as experiencing different worship services at other churches in the area. Currently, he was attending Parkview Assembly of God in Sheldon.

    On Tuesday, March 10, 2026, Kenny was reunited with loved ones who had gone before: his wife, Patricia De Kam; daughter, Jody De Kam; and his parents, Peter and Marie De Kam.

    Keeping his memory close in heart are his wife, Donna De Kam of Sanborn, IA; his children: Kendall (Diane) De Kam, Richard (Evalou) De Kam and their children: Bradley (Faye) De Kam, Matthew (Cacey) De Kam, Wade (Renea) De Kam and their children: Jesse (Michelle) De Kam, Nathan (Abigail) De Kam, Caleb (Sydney Edwards) De Kam, Anne (Andrew) Sechrist and her children: Brianna (Daniel) Faulkner, James III (Christa) Grosvenor, Sara Grosvenor, and Michael (Wendy) De Kam and their children: Cameron De Kam, Caiden De Kam, Samuel De Kam, Zachary De Kam, Dylan De Kam; 21 great-grandchildren; his brother, Wayne (Pat) De Kam of Colorado Springs, CO; his sister, Delores Vander Werff of Sheldon, IA; other relatives and friends.