Ronald "Bill" W. Henneberg

Ronald William (Bill) Henneberg was born in North Kansas City to the late Marjorie and Oren William Daily (Bill) Henneberg on April 30, 1947. The family made their home in Avondale, Missouri. Bill's siblings Carol Jeanne, Mark Andrew and David Eugene completed the family. The values they instilled in their children were faith in God, service to Him, trustworthiness, hard work, a "do-it-yourself" attitude, self-confidence and a sense of humor. Bill exhibited all of these qualities in his own life.

Double promoted twice as a child, Bill graduated from North Kansas City High School in 1964. He attended John Brown University in the fall of 1964, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering in May of 1968. Bill met Donna Kirklen in February of 1967. He was a Junior and she was a Freshman at JBU. They were married in Dallas on a very hot, humid day, August 3rd, 1968. They had their wedding rings engraved with the date and the words "From This Day On".

Prior to their marriage, Bill had moved To Bellflower, California in May to begin his first job at McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft. As a bachelor from May until August, Bill lived on canned food solely. There were very few things Bill couldn't do, but cooking was definitely one of them. His work at McDonnell-Douglas included F-4, A-4, F-111 Weapon Systems, DC-10 Avionics & Flight Guidance and System Design.

Bill and Donna joined a small Southern Baptist Church in Bellflower, California. It was not long before he volunteered to work with Junior High youth. He taught Sunday School and "Training Union" on Sunday nights. He took a portable TV to church for the kids the night of July 20, 1969 and they watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldron walk on the moon!

In 1973, Bill and Donna drove through a terrible snowstorm in New Mexico driving a 65 yellow Chevrolet Impala and towing a silver 1970 Opel GT. They were moving to Wichita, Kansas to be closer to family in Dallas and Kansas City. Bill had been offered a job at Gates Learjet, where he worked from 1973-1985. His jobs included Avionics System Design, Autopilot Integration, Certification Programs for Models 28, 29, 55, and 56, and Incident and Accident Investigation. He loved going up on test flights and the pilots loved pretending the plane was in trouble and heading straight for the ground, only to pull up and laugh! We had become members of Wichita Bible Church, and of course, Bill worked with Jr Highers there, too! We also worked on memorizing lots of Bible verses while attending there.

Bill and Donna desperately wanted a family. They had lost the only child they would ever conceive to miscarriage in February of 1970. They were overjoyed to adopt Ryan Tyler Henneberg in November of 1974 and Jason Taylor Henneberg in May of 1975. Bill raced home from work every day to spend time with his boys. The boys would wait on the driveway with riding toys for him to come home every day! I can still hear the boys saying. "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" Once getting the boys, we began looking for a church closer to where we lived at 135th and Maple in west Wichita. We found a small church that met in a house off of Central near Maize Road. It was New Creation Christian Church. It was all young couples and a few older folks, so no Junior Highers...but Bill was still very involved. The boys were baptized there, which made some lifelong friends. Ultimately, the church closed down due to its property being in a flood area and no sanctuary could be built there.

Bill's running buddy, George Doerksen a neighbor in the Maple Hill area, told Bill about First Mennonite Brethren Church and invited us to come for a visit. We did and really loved it. Roland Reimer was pastor then and Mark Willems was in charge of Youth. Bill started helping with Junior High around 1989, and kept going until his illness forced him to stop. He taught Sunday School, Wednesday night small groups & activities, 30-hour Famine, camp, newsletter, service projects, lock-ins and parties...for 28 years. He loved to serve! In November of 1985, Bill went to work for Boeing where he would spend the bulk of his career. He worked on B-52 Modifications, Air Force Öne Avionics (his desk was in the cockpit), A-6 Wing Replacement Program and 747 Modification. During that program, he got to travel all over the world dealing with customers; traveling to Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, China, Iceland and more. He was also blessed to travel to Malawi, Africa with World Vision.

Bill is survived by his wife of 54 years, Donna; his son Ryan (Brenda) Henneberg of Wichita, his son Jason (Charity) Henneberg of Kansas City; his seven grandchildren, Alexander Mark Henneberg, Zachary Kurt Henneberg, Zadin William Daily Henneberg, Caleb Andrew Leland Henneberg, Emily Jantz Henneberg; Holden Asher James Henneberg, and Abigail Virginia Marie Henneberg. He is also survived by his beloved siblings, Carol Jeanne (Ed) Wilde, Mark Andrew (Carol) Henneberg, David Eugene (Lori) Henneberg; two brothers-in-law, R. Leland (Molly) Kirklen and Scott Alan Kirklen; and a host of nieces and nephews. Others who have loved him dearly and will miss him greatly are Kurt and Susie Jantz, Lynette Ashbrook, Donita Davis, Chris and Richard Smith, Carolyn Medbery.

A visitation will be held Friday, October 14, 2022 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Ridgepoint Church, 8000 West 21st Street, Wichita. A memorial service will occur Saturday, October 15, 2022 from 11:00 a.m. at Ridgepoint Church, 8000 West 21st Street, Wichita. A private family interment will be in Resthaven Gardens of Memory, Garden of Christus, Wichita.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ResthavenMortuary-Cemetery.com for the Henneberg family.