Allen Janke

Allen Webster Janke of Manhattan, Kansas passed away on May 15, 2013. He was born to Webster & Lottie Janke at home on a farm south of Chapman, KS. He attended Carry Creek Grade School for 8 years & graduated from Dickinson County Community High School in Chapman in 1951. He attended Kansas State University for one year, and then returned to farm with his father, uncles, and their sons. He was a member of the Lyona United Methodist Church south of Junction City, served as a Lay Leader, Sunday School Supt., coached the church basketball team, & sang in the choir. He was married in 1957 to Harriette Grove of Thornburg, Iowa. They farmed together and raised four children in the farmhouse originally built by his parents. As a wheat and dairy farmer he developed many skills including maintaining Grade A dairy status, as director in several professional dairy associations and Co-ops which he often represented at national meetings. He sold the milk cows to return to Kansas State University to receive his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Economics. Beginning in 1980, Allen served as a Farm Management Specialist in northeast Kansas for 10 years in Holton, KS. There he was active in the College Ave. United Methodist Church for many years & sang in the church choir. In 1990 he and his wife moved to Manhattan where he continued to prepare taxes for friends and family. There he was active in the College Ave. United Methodist Church for many years & sang in the church choir. In 2005 he and his wife moved to Meadowlark Hills where he was always ready for a bridge game or a game of chess. Allen was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Althea Bowyer. He is survived by his wife Harriette of the home, his children; Rhonda and husband Raad Al-Ani of Wamego, Brian & his wife Kimberly of Rolla, MO, Karen of Manhattan, and Steven of Los Angeles; grandchildren Elizabeth, Michael, Nicholas, & Rebecca of Rolla, MO., and many nephews and nieces. A Celebration of Life service will be held on May 28 at 1:00 P.M. at Meadowlark Hills, Manhattan, KS in the Community Room. There will be time for family visitation in the Community Room after the service. Interment of Allen's ashes will be at the Lyona Cemetery near the family farm, where six generations of his ancestors also lie in rest. In memory of Allen a structure for viewing wild life will be established on the trail around the newly renovated pond on the Meadowlark Hills campus.