Kenneth Arlander Clevenger
Kenneth Arlander Clevenger
Kenneth Arlander Clevenger, 90, died peacefully Thursday,
March 8, 2012. Ken was born October 29,
1921 in Seminole, Oklahoma to Ira and Laura (Wagoner) Clevenger. His father was a sharecropper so the family
moved frequently. Any hopes for
prosperity were dashed with the bank failure of 1929 and the repeated years of
drought during the dust bowl years.
After Kenneth graduated from the eighth grade in 1935 in Watonga, OK,
his father did as thousands of other families did and moved his family West
looking for work. Ken was unable to
resume his formal education except for a few months in California as what
little he could earn was critical to the family. In 1937 they settled in the Melba, Idaho area
when his father found work building roads for the WPA Program. The family received food and blankets from
the Federal Emergency Relief Association.
The tin cans of food were unlabeled so the contents were always a
surprise. Ken said that it seemed more
often than not, they contained pumpkin.
Ken met Marguerite Nau at an Easter party in 1941. They were married a year later on Easter
Sunday, April 5, 1942 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Nampa, Idaho. A few months later when Ken received his
draft notice he was proud to join the Army and serve during WWII. He served in Bermuda for a time. After his honorable discharge in California
in 1945 he moved his family back to Nampa.
Kenneth believed that hard work was the only way to get ahead so he
tried to maintain two jobs whenever possible.
He used the radio and electronic skills he acquired in the Army to
repair radios and other appliances for the Sears & Roebuck store in
Caldwell while he and Marguerite managed the Greyhound Bus Depot in Nampa.
In 1952 Ken accepted a job with Boeing Aircraft in
Seattle. He was excited about the
position for two reasons. First the
company offered college level courses that he could take advantage of to
further his education and second it was one of the first areas where
televisions were being introduced and he felt he could make a good living
repairing this new technology. For the
next seven years he continued to work full time at Boeing while building up his
repair business.
After Ken’s mother died in 1959, Ken bought the 80 acre farm
in Kuna, Idaho from his father. He soon
found farming and maintaining his repair business a good match. He had a repair shop in Kuna for a number of
years. When he needed to be in the
fields, Marguerite would mind the store.
Later he moved his shop to Nampa.
Eventually he decided it was time to slow down some and enjoy life more
so he closed his repair shop. Missing
working with the public he bought a steam cleaner and got work helping other
farmers prepare their equipment for farm sales.
For a number of years Ken was very involved with the American
Legion Post in Melba. He enjoyed many
outdoor activities, especially fishing, motorcycle and snowmobile riding. Ken taught himself to play the guitar and
harmonica and enjoyed entertaining family and friends playing and singing his
favorite western songs. He and
Marguerite took multiple trips with other family members all over the United
States.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents; sister Mildred
Green, brothers Benton Marvin, Clyde and Delbert Allen, and thirteen months ago
by his bride of 68 years, Marguerite. He
is survived by his children Ken E. Clevenger, Mary (Ron) Ferguson, Cecelia
(John) Sachtjen, Norma (Kevin) Petty and Terry (Shelley) Clevenger; brothers
LeRoy (Millie) Clevenger and Frank R. Dean (Wanda) Clevenger; grandchildren Jill (Mark) Fisher, Jennifer
(Jim) Kienlen, Kara Ferguson (Mike Waite), Robert and Mike Sachtjen, Cliff and
Ariel Petty, and Mike (Chelsie) Clevenger;
three
great-grandchildren, and a special cousin, Alton (Karyn) Clevenger .
The family would like to thank the staff of Life Care Center
of Boise for the compassionate care he received there the final months of his
life.
A funeral mass will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, March
15, 2012 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 811 S. Latah, Boise. A private burial will take place at Mt.
Calvary Cemetery, Nampa. Services are
under the direction of the Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel, Boise.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Kenneth Arlander Clevenger, please visit our flower store.
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