In Memoriam: Rev. Kenneth Prol

Kenneth Prol was a man with a passion for bringing everyone he met closer to God. He responded immediately and pastorally to any situation by going, doing, and being. He loved to share stories of his faith. His favorite hymn, sung at his funeral, was “I Love to Tell the Story.” Prol passed away unexpectedly on September 23 as the result of an accident while riding his bicycle. He was 65.

For many years, Prol owned and operated his own business, Prol’s Painting and Wallpapering. Later in life he went into the ministry. Ordained in 2006, he served the following Christian Reformed congregations: First Trinity CRC in Richfield Springs, N.Y., and First Randolph CRC in Friesland, Wisc., where he served until his death.

Gifted with empathy and the ability to comfort others in their time of need, over the past five years Prol also became deeply involved as a hospice chaplain. Just a month before he died, he was asked to serve as the staff chaplain for the local nursing home.

Although he lived with severe, chronic neck and back pain, Prol’s newest passion was bicycling. It was his prayer time. He kept an online log of the many miles he went on his bike along country roads and through neighboring towns.

A great supporter of World Renew-Foods Resource Bank, Prol began the Randolph Growing Project in which area farmers donate a portion of their land to help feed people around the world.

Prol was also a man of many skills. “Anytime we needed something built, painted, or fixed, he was the guy to call,” said his children.

“There is no doubt,” his family said, “that when Ken entered heaven, God said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’”

He will be dearly missed by Diane, his wife of almost 43 years; by four children: Kelly and Chris, Kenneth and Marisa, Timothy and Stephanie, and Rachel; and by three grandchildren who knew him as “Pop Pop.”