Kenneth "Dean" Axford

Kenneth Dean Axford, affectionately known as Dean, was born on Tuesday, October 20, 1942, in Thornapple Township, Barry County, Michigan. He entered into his eternal rest on July 11, 2026, at his home in Bucyrus, Kansas.

Dean lived in Michigan until the 60’s when his parents and siblings moved to Leesburg, Florida. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Conklin, Michigan, and when he moved to Kansas, he joined the Church of the Resurrection where he was part of the Habitat for Humanity team and worked with the backpack ministry.

He is survived by his beloved friend, Bonnie Pranger, of Sparta, Michigan. He is also survived by two nieces, Penny Green and Cindy Lee (Jack), one nephew, Robert “Bob” Tomlinson (Kim); all from Lakeland, Florida; two great nieces (Jenny and Marissa [Danny]), three great nephews (Kyle [Stephanie]), DJ (Bre), and Trever three great-great nephews (Axton, Beau, Richard, and Eli), and three great-great nieces (Bailey, Sadie and Gracie).

He was predeceased by his parents, Kenneth and Florence Axford (Apollo Beach, Florida), brother, Jon Charles Axford (Houston, Texas); and sister, Joan Kay Axford Guerra (Pikeville, Tennessee); great niece, Rachel Paul Gunter (Polk City, Florida); and great-great niece Serenity Idell Gunter (Lakeland, Florida).

Dean graduated from Central Florida College with an Associate of Arts degree in pre-engineering, and Mineralogy Studies from University of South Florida. He had a 38-year career in drafting and equipment engineering at GTE and Sprint. He retired from Sprint in 2001.

Honors and Awards: Vice President’s Achievement Award for being a team member: “1993 Army Warfighter Demonstration” at Ft. Gordon, Georgia; Member of the team that helped restore traffic to the Oklahoma route that was damaged during the flood of 1996.

His service will be at the Church of the Resurrection - Wesley Chapel, 13720 Roe Avenue, Leawood, KS 66224, on Friday, July 31st at 2:00 p.m. The service will be followed by a reception. The service will be live-streamed by Church of the Resurrection at https://online.brushfire.com/careandmentalwellness/memorials/vb9hy6wf4v

Memorial contributions can be directed to Church of Resurrection- Disaster Response Team by going to https://my.resurrection.church/memorial and selecting Dean's name in the 'Person to Memorialize' drop down option.