(UPDATE) There will be having a a viewing and service for Ken on Friday, October 29. The viewing will be at 1p.m., and the service will be at 2 p.m.
Both will be at the LDS church in Cascade (301 4th Avenue NW), with a reception to follow. Everyone is welcome to attend.
(1st REPORT, OCTOBER 20) Ken Lemanksi, a volunteer firefighter/EMT in Cascade, has died after a battle with COVID.
The "Cascade Farmer Rancher City Volunteer Fire Department" Facebook page posted:
We lost an amazing fireman/EMT this morning due to complications of Covid, Ken was amazing and dedicated to serving his community it was in his blood from the time he served in the military to becoming a firefighter and EMT, he rarely missed a call and he will be a deep missing void on our fire department. Please keep his family in your prayers. Thank you for your service, you can rest easy brother we will miss you.
Friends of Lemanski say that he was also a football and wrestling coach for students.
A GoFundMe account has been created to help the family; it states:
With Ken’s passing he leaves a huge void in our community and a wife and two younger children Teddy and Abby behind. At a point when he was starting to turn around and do better this is a very unexpected passing and anything you can do to help the family through this tough time will be welcomed.
Click here if you would like to make a donation.
We will update you if we get more information.
There were 1,250 new COVID cases reported in Montana on Wednesday, October 20, with 11,044 total active cases in the state, according to the Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services (DPHHS).
DPHHS reported 19 new deaths on Tuesday, noting that 15 of those have occurred since October 8, and the other four were in September. The deaths occurred in the following counties: Cascade, Granite, Hill (2), Lake (2), Lewis & Clark, Lincoln, Missoula (3), Pondera (2), Richland (3) and Yellowstone (3).
The total number of Montanans who have died due to COVID is now 2,225, according to DPHHS. The number of people currently hospitalized due to COVID is 446, down from 454 on Tuesday. The cumulative number of hospitalizations in Montana due to the virus is 8,447.
There have been 168,513 cumulative cases of COVID in Montana. The cumulative number of recoveries is now 155,244. There were 7,027 new COVID tests administered since the last DPHHS report.
An estimated 54% of eligible residents are now vaccinated, with 499,292 Montanans now considered fully vaccinated. The total number of doses administered is 1,059,563. If you want to get vaccinated, contact your county health department, or click here.
Counties with the most new cases
- Yellowstone County: 252 new; 2,565 active
- Gallatin County: 184 new; 538 active
- Flathead County: 153 new; 1,046 active
- Missoula County: 130 new; 1,886 active
- Cascade County: 87 new; 1,095 active
- Lewis & Clark County: 56 new; 951 active
- Silver Bow County: 43 new; 143 active
- Lake County: 29 new; 253 active
- Park County: 27 new; 207 active
- Stillwater County: 27 new; 128 active
Information from DPHHS at this point does not include data on whether new cases occurred among vaccinated or unvaccinated people.
The information above is from the DPHHS website and is current as of Wednesday, October 20. The website contains county-specific data on new cases, vaccination rates, and more.
