Lt. Kenneth James Larsen, 56

It is with a humbled heart to announce the line of duty death of Lieutenant Kenneth Larsen. A member of the Lake Geneva Fire Department, Lieutenant with Huntley Fire Department, and past member of the Woodstock, Illinois Fire Department.

Lt. Kenneth James Larsen, 56, of the Lake Geneva, Wisconsin area passed away surround by his friends and family on October 9th, 2024.

Lt. Larsen was born on August 25th, 1968, to Ralph and Joanne (Berener) Larsen in Woodstock, Illinois. Lt. Larsen was a member of the graduating class of 1986 from Marian Central High School. On May the 5th, 2005, at St. Mary’s Church in Woodstock, Illinois Lt. Larsen was united into marriage to Karen Hegberg.

When you talk about Lt. Larsen you immediately mention the years of dedication and devotion to the craft that made him who he was, Fire Fighting, but there is so much more. Lt. Larsen was an outdoors man at heart. Lt. Larsen hiked the Appalachian Trail many times, in fact it was the Appalachian Trail that brought Lt. Larsen and his wife Karen together. Lt. Larsen loved biking, kayaking, and woodworking, in fact it was mentioned that if it ended in “ing” and involved the outdoors Lt. Larsen was into it. Lt. Larsen was passionate about home brewed beer and started his own brand name 9 Frogs Brewing. Lt. Larsen was known for his ability to fix anything, his unended open willingness to go above and beyond to help anyone at any time. His attention to detail was above and beyond and if it wasn’t right he would just start over until the finest detail was correct. Lt. Larsen had such a love for the outdoors that he even convinced his mother to join him on part of the Appalachian trail in her 60’s. Lt. Larsen true passion and calling in life was the fire service and from his start at Woodstock Fire to Huntley Fire then to Lake Geneva his world revolved around all of it. It was stated many times when he was talked about that it was his calming presence that made everything just work right. Never getting overly excited and always the voice of reason, if Lt. Larsen was there you knew that you were under good leadership and that everyone would be going home.

As it has been stated many times in the fire service world:

Lt. Ken Larsen your time on this earth is complete. You can rest easy sir as we will take it from here. We know that you will be watching and protecting us from above and we will keep protecting everything down here.

Lt. Larsen is survived by his wife of 19 years Karen. Lt. Larsen’s parents Ralph and Joanne, two siblings: Bob (Michelle) Larsen and Michael (Mary Beth) Larsen along with hundreds of brothers and sisters in the fire service will survive and remember him.

In lieu of other expression of sympathy the family has asked that you make a donation in Lt. Larsen’s name to: Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Continental Divide Trail Coalition, Shield 23 Foundation, Fire Dept. Coffee, Lakeland Animal Shelter, or Michaels Memories.

Services for Lt. Larsen will be held on Thursday October 17th, 2024, at 10:30am at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Woodstock, Illinois. Visitation will be held on Wednesday October 16th, 2024, from 4:00pm till 8:00pm in the main Chapel of Derrick Funeral Home. An honorary Firefighter walk through is set for 7:00pm with a 6:30pm line up time.

To post an online condolence please visit www.derrickfuneralhome.com.

Derrick Funeral Home is honored to be assisting the family of Lt. Ken Larsen.