Kenneth Arden Norberg, Sr.

January 27, 1941 to March 4, 2023

He’s been known by many names over the years, but whether you call him Kenneth, Kenny, Kenn, Ken, or just plain Norberg, he was a wonderful and unique human being.

Kenn’s Early Years

Kenn was born in Munising, Michigan to Waino and Elsie “Eva” Norberg, the fifth of six brothers and sisters: Eugene, Raymond, Ernie, Clarence, Kenn, and Alice. He enjoyed the closeness and quaintness of small town life in the Rock River Township Area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where the population was always under 1,400 and the average annual temperature was never above 43 degrees. Living on a farm for his formative years taught Kenn the value and honor of hard work. Of course he also had lots of boyhood fun: for a while he kept a baby deer he named “Bambi” as a pet. Bambi lived in a little box in their kitchen until one day when Kenn’s brothers told him Bambi had “run away”. Up until the day he died, Kenn believed–but could never prove–that foul play on his brothers’ part was to blame for his missing pet.

Kenn The Student

Kenn attended primary school through 9th grade in Alger County, Michigan until his parents moved the family to Florida. One of Kenn’s most memorable stories of his early high school days was when he stole the School Bus full of kids! One snowy day on the way to school, of which there were many, the school bus broke down and their bus driver went walking off across the countryside to get help. After the children waited a while in the cold, Kenn got the idea that maybe the bus wasn’t really broken down, but just had some temporary issue. He tried the ignition and, sure enough, the bus started right up! While he didn’t have his driver's license yet, he had driven farm trucks and their tractor on the family farm, so he decided he would go ahead and drive the bus to school–and he did! No one was hurt and he received no punishment, but there’s a good chance the bus driver did. He had such fondness for his fellow classmates  that he continued to travel back up to Michigan to attend as many class reunions as he could for his would-be class, the Rock River Township High School class of 1959. Moving in the middle of High School is disruptive for anyone, but Kenn handled it with aplomb. At Lake Worth High School, he continued participating in the sports he loved, mainly basketball and track and field; lettering in both. He was on the student council, the glee club, and his Senior Superlative was Most School Spirit. He stayed on track academically and graduated in the class of 1959. His love of his second alma mater shows in that he continued to donate his time and resources throughout the rest of his life to the betterment of students at Lake Worth High through sponsorship of scholarships and other school programs.

Kenn The Hard Worker and Entrepreneur

Kenn’s first job in Florida was as a bowling pinsetter machine mechanic at Verdes Tropicana Lanes in Lake Worth. Later, he became a draftsman at Pratt & Whitney, and finally, Kenn began his life-long career in insurance. After getting his start at Prudential Life, his entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and he decided to start his own business, founding Ken Norberg Insurance in 1969 as an independent insurance agent. Kenn decided to add the title, realtor, to his shingle and changed the business to Ken Norberg Insurance and Real Estate. After a few years at the office by the Lantana Bridge, he purchased a home on the corner of Lantana Road and Broadway and converted the front half to office space and the back half into a home for his mother. As the business grew and markets changed he rebranded using his middle name, Arden, which moved the name to the front of the Yellow Pages. Over the years Kenn added a construction company and even a travel agency to the mix. Eventually, Kenn decided to focus solely on insurance under the current name, Arden Insurance Associates Inc. Serving the insurance needs of the Palm Beaches and Florida residents for more than 50 years was truly Kenn’s passion. As an independent insurance agent himself, he was extremely active in the Florida Association of Insurance Agents on the board of directors and leading many task forces. And his hard work was recognized with awards and accolades in the insurance and development industries. He earned the American States Insurance Top Performer award and numerous top honor awards from Florida Home Builders and the National Association of Home Builders including Golden Spike awards and the coveted Life Director Award.

Kenn’s Community Involvement

Kenn always had a heart for giving back to his community. He believed everyone had a responsibility to work for the common good. Kenn was a councilman on the Lantana town council, President of the Lantana Chamber of Commerce and even ran for Mayor! In spite of he and his brothers driving their adorable little children neighborhood to neighborhood handing out flyers door-to-door (“Elect my Dad!”, “Elect my Uncle Kenn!”), he wasn’t able to pull off a victory that year. Kenn was also active in the Lantana Lions and Rotary clubs. Through his service as a Rotarian, he inspired other fellow Rotarians to donate more than $1,000 in his name to the Rotary Foundation, earning him the distinguished Paul Harris Fellow Award from Rotary International. But it wasn’t only the community at large that earned his service, he also gave his time to the local youth, coaching both baseball and basketball. His impact was such that even as recently as six months ago, a substitute exterminator sent to Kenn’s house to deal with swarming ants recognized his old baseball coach, Mr. Kenn, and told him how thankful he was that Kenn put up with him enough to coach him in his favorite sport.

Kenn’s Faith

Kenn was a Christian and had a quiet, but active faith in Jesus. He and his family started attending Living Word Lutheran Church when they were still meeting in the cafeteria of Lantana Middle School. He ensured his sons were baptized and that they were in those pews/seats as long as they were living under his roof. It wasn’t long after starting there that Kenn headed a committee to build a permanent building at 2116 Lantana Road to house the church. The building is still there today, actively used as a house of worship. In his later life, Kenn attended Royal Palm Presbyterian Church, serving as an elder and earning several Eagles Club awards for generous giving to keep the church going when offerings decline in the Summer months.

Kenn’s Family

Kenn met his first wife, Beverly Ann Roberts, at Lake Worth High School. The two were married in 1961 and in 1962 had their first son, Kenneth Arden Norberg, Jr. After moving briefly to Savannah, Georgia, Kenn and Beverly returned to South Florida, and had their second son, Robert William Norberg in 1963. It wouldn’t be for nine more years that their third son, Brian Keith Norberg would come along. All three sons were encouraged to be involved in youth organizations like Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Indian Guides. All three boys graduated High School and attended college, making Kenn very proud. Ken Jr. became a career air traffic controller, Robert graduated UF and spent 13 years in corporate retail management and eventually joined Kenn and now runs Arden Insurance, and Brian served in the Coast Guard and is now a successful software developer. Kenn was a very proud Papa! But his pride didn’t stop with one generation; he was equally, if not more proud of his grandsons Hunter and Griffin and his granddaughter Laurin. Later in his life, Kenn had three more wives and enjoyed raising several step-children, but after that remained a bachelor. Since all of his brothers started their families in Florida, Kenn was able to remain connected to them and was especially close to his brother Ernie, traveling back up to Michigan with him and visiting him in Arizona after he retired there some years ago. At his death, Kenn was survived by brother and sister-in-law, Ernest and Mary Norberg, sister Alice Hietikko, son Kenneth Arden Norberg, Jr., grandsons Hunter Norberg and Griffin Norberg, son and daughter-in-law Robert Norberg and Lauri Norberg (nee Graham), granddaughter Laurin Norberg, son and daughter-in-law, Brian Norberg and Cynthia Norberg (nee McGuire) and numerous cousins, nephews, nieces, and other relatives.

Kenn’s Way

In the Old Testament, some Biblical patriarchs were said to have been “old and full of years” when they died, indicating that they had lived a full life and accomplished much. Kenn had such a life. He loved the song, “My Way”, as performed by Frank Sinatra, as it shares a similar sentiment. Kenn resonated with the lyrics and spirit of that song…

I've lived a life that's full

I traveled each and every highway

And more, much more than this

I did it my way

Rest eternal, grant to Kenn, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.  We Love you Pops, you will be missed by many.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Kenn to the Lake Worth Dollars for Scholars program (https://lakeworth.dollarsforscholars.org) or Trustbridge Hospice Foundation (https://trustbridge.com/foundation).