|
| |
A celebration of life for Kenneth "Ken" Paul LaPier Sr., age 84, will be held at 11:00 am, Monday, May 21, 2018 at the Fairview First United Methodist Church. Reverend Andrew Haire will officiate. Cremation arrangements are by Fairview Funeral Home, Inc.
Kenneth was born August 29, 1933 in Talladega, Alabama to Robert Forney and Eva (Avery) LaPier and passed away peacefully in the Fairview Regional Medical Center, Fairview Oklahoma on May 8, 2018 with his wife and son by his side.
Kenneth joined the United States Air Force in September 1951 and after basic training he was transferred to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi where he was trained to be a radio operator. He was again transferred to Brooks AFB for only a few months then transferred to Japan. Upon completion of his tour of duty in Sayama, Japan he was transferred back to Brooks AFB and in September 1955 was honorably discharged.
After his four years in the Air Force, he settled back home in Huntsville, AL. During his post at Keesler AFB he married his first wife Peggy and they were blessed with two children, Kenneth P. LaPier Jr. and Elizabeth L. LaPier.
During his working career Ken held many positions ranging from engineer to school bus driver. While in Huntsville Ken worked as a salesman in the construction business and owned his own home building business for several years. Ken then went to work for Boeing in the Aerospace Division as an industrial Engineer on the Saturn space program at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. Upon being given the option of relocating to Boeing headquarters in Seattle, WA or remaining in the south Kenneth and Peggy chose to move the family to Houston, TX.
The move to Texas saw his career change and Ken went to work for HCA Service & Supply Co Ltd. as Equipment Projects Specialist. Ken then moved into facility engineering at Control Data Corp. After several years in facilities management Ken started working in the health industry at The Texas Medical Center. Ken was the Facility Superintendent for St Luke's Hospital, Texas Children's Hospital & Texas Heart Institute. Here Ken was responsible for building the Heart Institute where groundbreaking research in heart transplants was done at the direction of brilliant heart surgeons Denton Cooley and John Norman. Dr. Norman and Ken became life-long friends as a result of working together on this project. After the Texas Medical Center Ken went on to work at Rosewood General Hospital as the Director of Environmental Services.
After an opportunity to manage large industrial facilities came available Ken began working for Texas Instruments as an Engineering Manager, then NL Shaffer/NL Industries Inc. as a Plant Engineer.
After his first wife passed away in 1981 Ken married Connie Wedel on May 8, 1982. Ken and Connie continued to live in Houston until 1984 when they moved to Bentonville, AR to be closer to her mother. After moving to Bentonville, Ken and Connie both worked for Wal-Mart. Kenneth worked in the Garden Center, then became their Manager for the hardware department. They then moved to Bella Vista, AR and after they both retired from Wal-Mart, Ken did "home repair" work for residents. Ken's work ranged from painting to building large decks. Ken also worked for Ace Hardware and later drove a school bus for Bella Vista schools. This is how we get form United States Air Force radio operator, to construction work, to space program, engineering, manager and school bus driver.
In 2004 Ken and Connie moved to Fairview where Connie was raised and they have enjoyed retirement since then. Not wanting to be bored Ken service on the Fairview City Council and continued to drive a school bus. He also served as volunteer driver at the Fairview Fellowship Home to drive residents sightseeing around the area. Ken was a devoted member of his church. Ken especially enjoyed the pot luck dinners, bingo and Sunday school.
Kenneth was a past member of; The American Society of Hospital Engineering (American Hospital Assoc), Toastmaster's International, Sertoma International, Lions Club of Bentonville, Bella Vista & Fairview as well as the American Legion post 51 of Fairview.
Kenneth is survived by his wife Connie of the home, son Paul LaPier of Dallas, daughter Elizabeth LaPier of Kansas City, daughter-in-law Beverly LaPier, 4 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, sister Bobbie Leder and brother Frederick LaPier.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Robert & William, sister Ann & his first wife Peggy.
In Lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to First United Methodist Church or charity of your choice with the funeral home acting as custodian.
Condolences may be made online at www.fairviewfuneralhomeinc.com.
This site may be freely linked, but not duplicated in any way without consent.
All rights reserved! Commercial use of material within this site is prohibited!
© 2000-2024 Oklahoma CemeteriesThe information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to Oklahoma Cemeteries to make it available online. This material will always be available at no cost, it will always remain free to the researcher.