Bernard "Barney" H. Kisner, 94, of Grand Island died Friday, September 21, 2012 at St. Francis Skilled Care.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 am Tuesday in Gollaher Chapel of Trinity United Methodist Church. The Reverend Jay Vetter will officiate. Burial will be at Westlawn Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 4-8 pm Monday with the family receiving friends from 4-6 pm at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home.
Memorials are suggested to the National Wild Turkey Federation Jakes Take Aim Program or Trinity United Methodist Church.
Mr. Kisner was born on January 12, 1918 in Brownsville, Illinois to Talmage E. and Jessie L. (Hughes) Kisner. He grew up in Brownsville where he attended Walnut Grove Country School. He graduated from Carmi High School in 1941 and the University of Illinois in 1945 with a Bachelor of Arts.
Barney is survived by his wife Jo Ann of Grand Island, several nieces and nephews, two brothers-in-law, Charles Wehrle of Phoenix, AZ, John (Barbara) Wehrle of Lincoln, and a sister in law, Verna Rudolph of Mt. Vernon, IN.
He entered the United States Army on January 14, 1943 and served during World War II and the Korean War. Barney received the Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Campaign Ribbon with two Bronze Stars, the Bronze Star Medal, the American Theatre Campaign Ribbon, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two Bronze Stars and the Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged on April 5, 1952.
He was united in marriage to Jo Ann Wehrle at Carmi, Illinois on October 26, 1946. Following his discharge from the Army the couple farmed in Illinois until moving to Nebraska in 1966 where they opened the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kearney. They later opened KFCs in Grand Island and Hastings which they owned and operated until retiring in 1984.
Barney was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church, the Elks Club, the National Rifle Association, and the National Wild Turkey Federation. He was also a lifetime member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was an avid outdoorsman and loved to hunt and fish at his cabin on the North Loup River.
He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Wilford T. Kisner, three sisters, Winifred Weirauch, Mary Doris Lewis and Marguerite Perkins, and a brother-in-law, Robert Wehrle.


Funeral services will be at 10:30 am Tuesday in Gollaher Chapel of Trinity United Methodist Church. The Reverend Jay Vetter will officiate. Burial will be at Westlawn Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 4-8 pm Monday with the family receiving friends from 4-6 pm at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home.