Kenneth Robert Kline of Portage, Michigan — a devoted family man, proud engineer, and lifelong lover of the Michigan outdoors — passed away peacefully on May 4th 2026, at the age of 90.

Ken was born on September 2, 1935, in White Cloud, Michigan, to Alice May Kline and Robert F. Kline. He grew up in White Cloud and graduated from White Cloud High School in 1953. He became the first in his family to attend and graduate from college — earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University) in 1957, a milestone his family holds with great pride.

Ken went on to build a 30-year career at Consumers Energy, beginning in Jackson, Michigan in 1957 before relocating to Bay City in 1959. It was there that life took a wonderful turn: he met Linda Poch, and the two married in September of 1961. Together they built a full and happy life, welcoming their son Michael in 1963 — prompting a move to Kalamazoo — and their daughter Carrie in 1967, after which the family settled in Jackson, the town they would call home for decades.
Outside of work, Ken was most at home in the woods and on the water. He spent decades hunting and fishing the lakes and forests of Michigan, and could be found on the golf course during his time at Consumers Energy. He was a member of the Kappa Delta Psi fraternity and briefly served in the Air Force Reserves in 1959, a period of service he carried with quiet dignity.

Ken carried deep losses in his final years with characteristic grace — the passing of his beloved wife Linda in 2011, and the heartbreaking loss of his daughter Carrie in 2021. He is preceded in death by his parents Robert (1909–1996) and Alice (1915–1994), his wife Linda (1941–2011), and his youngest child Carrie (Brian) Konieczka (1967–2021).

He is survived by his son Michael (Janet); grandchildren Rachel (Dyllin) Patrick, Kenny Kline, and Kristen (Jeremy) Frisby; and great-grandchildren Isla Patrick and Kaia Frisby.