Harold Kuehn Canfield
Harold Kuehn Canfield, (97) formerly of Fowlerville and Sebewaing, Michigan, after a very long and full life, died in the early hours of March 7, 2024, with family at his side.
Harold was born in Fowlerville, Michigan on June 27, 1926, to Howard Albert Canfield and Hazel Mae (Kuehn) Canfield. A 1944 graduate of Fowlerville High School, he grew up on the farm and loved farming with his father, Howard. After a short three-month courtship, he married the love of his life, Dorothy Jean Gentry, on June 11, 1949.
Harold and Jean began their long life together on a small farm in Fowlerville, where they quickly expanded their family, adding six children in seven years. While farming was Harold’s occupation of choice, with an expanding family he supplemented his income by working outside the farm. He worked early on as a lumber jack for Monroe Brothers, and then as a factory worker at Ruland Electric Co. Later, because all farmers love moving dirt, he spent many years working for the Livingston County Road Commission as a heavy equipment operator. He had moved dirt and/or snow on most of the roads in Livingston County.
Upon retiring from the Road Commission, Harold and Jean sought a way back to fulltime farming and they bought a 160-acre farm in Leslie, Michigan, where he said he “never worked another day in his life”. After several years they sold the farm and moved to Perry, Michigan. When health issues made it clear that he and Jean would need more help, they moved closer to family in Sebewaing, Michigan, where he loved to watch the crops grow and the beet trucks pass by his window.
Harold was an avid hunter and fisherman and loved all things outdoors. He flew small airplanes early on, but having kids ended that risky pursuit. He had an expansive Indian arrowhead collection only eclipsed by his stamp collection. He loved playing cards. He was a member of the Perry United Methodist Church. Harold was a great father and mentor to his six children, but his greatest love was for his wife of just short of 70 years “Jeanie”, who preceded him in death on April 20, 2019. This along with the death of his oldest child, Susan (Canfield) Dana, left a great hole in his life.
Harold is survived by his other five children: Michael (Carla Slatten), Tom (Becky Goodimote), John, Edward (Cheryl Barker), and Keith (Carrie Rostar) as well as many grandchildren, great and great-great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Dorotha (Canfield/Brown) Knodle. His other sister, Margary (Canfield) Perkins preceded him in death.
Please join us in celebrating a life well lived on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at 11 am in Howell with a light luncheon to follow the service. Details regarding location will be forthcoming. There will be a short graveside service after the luncheon at the Sanford Cemetery in Howell.
The family would like to thank Toni and Trish House and My Michigan Hospice for their great care in Harold’s final days. Memorials can be made to the Toni and Trish House for the Care of the Terminally Ill, PO Box 125, 4699 Eleven Mile Road, Auburn, Michigan, 48611.
Arrangements handled by Juengel-Mellendorf Funeral Home, 538 S. Beck St., Sebewaing, MI 48759. Share a memory at www.jmfuneralhome.com
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