Kind hearted farmer Ken's final trip by quad bike

The 85-year-old took his final journey on the back of a trailer pulled by the machine that had kept him working right up to 10 days before he died.

“That was just what he would have wanted,” said eldest daughter Linda Mrkalj. “It was fitting he should be taken to the church by quad bike.

“It was his favourite form of transport. He was very attached to it.”

Ken, who had been in agriculture all his life, farmed the 100-acre Highfield Farm in Lea Town near Preston for the last 42 years.

But on top of the hard graft on the land, he also looked after his neighbours as a local home watch, touring the area twice a day on his beloved four-wheeler making sure everything and everybody was fine.

“Basically he kept his eye on things in the area and, if he spotted something suspicious, he would alert the police,” explained Linda. “He helped a lot of people in the neighbourhood, making sure they were OK and seeing if there was anything they needed.

“He couldn’t do enough for people and everyone seemed to love him. He was that type, nothing was too much trouble if he was helping others.

“That quad bike was the only way he could get around in the end. He couldn’t walk very well and would use his walking frame to get to it. Once he was in the saddle there was no stopping him.

“He was working right up to 10 days before he passed away. You couldn’t keep him in, he was an outdoor man and was a farmer through and through.”

Ken leaves a widow, Iris, 84. The couple had been married for 65 years and have five children, 17 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

His funeral packed out St John the Evangelist Church in Clifton.