05/23/2026
Very sad news from my friend Warren Lun this morning, RIP Ken one of the most talented people I have ever met! He has selflessly helped me multiple times over the years. I will miss him!.....td
Warren D. Lun
Kenneth F. Soderbeck 1936-2026
It is with sorrow and great personal loss that I announce to the Society that Kenneth F. Soderbeck has passed. Ken was the proprietor of Hand in Hand Restorations of Jackson Michigan. For those of us who were fortunate to know him, he excelled in his crafts, be it Hand, Horse, or Motorized Fire Apparatus restoration, metal fabrication, Fire Engine decoration and later, interurban car restoration. He and his second wife, Helene “Lee” Soderbeck were recipients of SPAAMFAA’s Robinson Award in 1977.
It is a great loss to our hobby in knowledge, history, and skill. Ken was always eager to share all of this to anyone who asked. Please keep Agnes and Kens’ family in your thought and prayers. I will try to post memorial arrangements at later date.
If you wish to post your condolences to the family, you can do it on this webpage, as Agnes and Family will be able to read it here.
On a Personal Note:
To say Ken was talented man would be an understatement. Signpainter; Screenprinter; Master “shade-tree” mechanic; Restorer; Fire Apparatus decorator; Teacher; Artist, Historian, Metal worker, Re-creator of gold leaf water transfers. For those of us who knew him, one could go on and on.
I first met Ken on a cold rainy day in Angola, Indiana in 1975 where he and several other members of the old Greenfield Village Antique Apparatus Association were attempting to buy a steam Fire Engine at Auction.
At the time I was 26, still attending college, and living and working in Kalamazoo. I considered myself very fortunate to be in close proximity to Ken’s South Street shop in Jackson and spent many weekends of my youth, learning how to restore fire engines from him.
Ken was my mentor, my teacher. Like many of you who are reading this, Ken was a sharing individual always eager to generously impart his knowledge and expertise openly to others.
Weekends at South Street were spent working on fire apparatus for his clients or on our own. At the time, we were his crew, a bunch of boys; me, and the Tallman brothers Tom and Jim.
When you share coffee and conversation for those many years over the old oak table in his shop you get to know what kind of man you have latched yourself onto. Ken was a twin, and has a twin sister, Phyllis. An Army Veteran, an Honest John missileman in Korea. After the Army, he became a sign painter’s helper, then a sign painter. A volunteer firefighter in Summit Township, and on their Dive Team. While dating Lee, he got called out during a movie, to go recover a drowning victim.
He restored his first fire engine in the late ‘60’s, a 1923 Type 48 American LaFrance, completing it, then discovering that he had decorated it incorrectly. This started his lifelong quest to learn the art and application of correct old school fire apparatus decoration techniques going forward. He was Student, He was Teacher…
It always was a wonder how he got anything done, due to the many unannounced visitors, stopping by the shop on weekends while passing through, and Ken holding Court for all types of fire engine restorers, historians, and hobbyists.
But he did. There were many fire engines, too numerous to count, on which he turned his mechanical and artistic touches to bring about majestically restored machines. A testament and legacy to his skills preserved in private ownership and museums.
After Lee passed, we, his friends, all thought Ken would go over the Deep End, as Lee and he had been inseparable. He however recovered, most assuredly, by travelling to Valdez, Alaska to help a volunteer firefighter named Andy Swift restore a steamer.
Years passed and he met Agnes. One of their first “dates” was to my fire station in Battle Creek, to see how well she might acclimate to our hobby.
She must have passed the test, as they got married a short time later.
Both contributed much to the hobby and the Society and spent many happy years complementing each other’s interests.
Ken continued his quest on perfecting fire apparatus decoration and his deep interest in local history until shortly before he left us.
I indebted to Ken for letting me to share a part of his life, and his friendship over many decades, instilling in me the love of American Fire History, of Fire Apparatus restoration, and most precious to me, the memories we made and the fun we had over those years.
Dear Friend, you are missed.
