The funeral service for Keith L. Bakken, 60, of rural Alden, will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Alden. Military honors will be accorded. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Bonnerup Funeral Service, Albert Lea, and one hour before the service at the church.

Keith died Friday, April 18, 2008, at Rio Grand Regional Hospital, McAllen, Texas, after a long battle with leukemia.

Keith was born Nov. 8, 1947, to Eva (Pedersen) and Grant Bakken of rural Alden. He was confirmed in April 1961 at First Lutheran Church of Alden. In school, he was active in 4-H, FFA, and track and field. He graduated from Alden High School in 1965. He served our country in the U.S. Army, 17th Artillery, from 1967 to 1969, seeing combat in 1968 in Vietnam.

When he returned from the service, Keith farmed alongside his father north of Alden. Keith was a pioneer in conservation farming methods, the preservation of natural resources and protecting habitat for wildlife. He also invented and marketed a variety of equipment designed to automate various farming practices. Keith was selected as the Freeborn County Conservation Farmer of the year in 1978.

He married Barbara Thorson in 1988 and quickly learned to enjoy his new roles as husband, father and then as grandfather. In recent years, he and wife Barbara wintered in Texas. His final illness struck there this spring and his entire family was able to travel from Alden to Texas and spend time with him in his final days.

Keith was an active member of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Alden. He was a member of the Alden American Legion, the Albert Lea VFW, Alden and Freeborn Gun Clubs, a founding member and past chairman of the S.M.N.I. Ridge Till Association and the Sustainable Farming Association.

Keith enjoyed hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and a variety of outdoor activities, but his greatest enjoyment came from spending time with his grandchildren and sharing with them his love of the outdoors.

Keith his survived by his wife Barbara, children: Nicole and husband Derek Brown and children Kendall and Kylee Ward and Elissa, Breanna, Isabelle and Hunter Brown of Hollandale, Kirk Petersen and his special friend Stacy Adams and children Zachary and Lacy Petersen, Hailey and Hannah Adams of Alden, Mindy and her special friend Dave Eilertson and children Rachael Petersen and Alex Eilertson of Alden; mother-in-law Eva Thorson of Alden; sisters-in-law and brother-in-law: Myrna Sitzer, Colorado Springs, Colo., Sharon (Doug) Thompson of Florida, and Richard (Debbie) Thorson of Alden; aunt and uncle Ethel and Manly Bakken of Alden; aunts: Lillian Perkins, Lorraine Bakken and Eleanor Pedersen, all of Albert Lea; many cousins; other relatives; and an extensive network of friends and neighbors from throughout the Alden-Freeborn area.

Keith was preceded in death by his parents; mother Eva in 1991; father Grant in 2003; father-in-law Lester Thorson in 1994; and several cousins.