Kenneth Lawrence Arntzen
June 11, 1921 - January 27, 2014
Obituary
Kenneth Lawrence Arntzen was born 92 years ago – June 11, 1921 and left us January 27, 2014. He was born in Escanaba Michigan; the ninth of ten children in the Gothard and Marie Arntzen family. After graduation from high school he and his best buddy, Bill Liedke, ventured to Detroit to find work in the car industry. Ken and Bill were lifetime friends and even though living on opposite coasts, called each other every year on their birthdays.
Like every other able-bodied young American man, Ken joined the US Navy in the early forties; he was in the Seabees and was stationed in Guam. At the end of the war, he returned to Michigan and earned his degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Tech. He found a job application to the Boeing Company in a drawer in the employment center – was hired in 1949 – moved to Seattle – and never left until he retired in 1981 for the next exciting chapter.
Ken met and married Caryl Jacobsen in 1951 and had Jennifer and Jill. After Caryl’s passing in 1956 he then married Barbara Pratt and added two stepchildren, Sheila and Doug. Bob was born in 1961 – the original blended family – the original Brady Bunch. In the mid 70’s he built what he thought was going to be his retirement house on Magnolia. What a talented guy! Barbara passed in 1979 and in 1980 Ken met and married Colleen and added three more daughters, Maureen, Melinda and Megan.
In 1981 Ken and Colleen moved to Maui where they built their home in Maui Meadows. After living in Maui for 8 years they relocated to Las Cruces where they resided for 13 years. Maureen and Melinda and their families lived close by which was a great source of joy to the Arntzens. In 2003, Ken and Colleen moved to the Foundation House where they have lived for the last ten years to be closer to most of their family.
Ken is survived by his wife Colleen of 33 years, his sister Helen, his children: Jennifer, Jill and Greg, and Bob. While fitting the definition of stepchildren he embraced and treated Maureen, Melinda and Renee, and Megan and Walter as his own. He also left behind his grandchildren: Julie, Andrea, Amy and Rajdev, Nate and Chrissy, Thor and Jason, Orita, Ardena, Andrew, Chad and Angelina, Chelsea, Jacob, and Adam. And finally, his great grandchildren: Sienna, Joaquin, Jadakiss, Vera, Ruby, Linaya, Eric and Jaxon.
We are all thankful his suffering is over but we will miss him more than words can say. God speed. RIP.