Kenneth Davies

1928 - 2015

Kenneth Davies died peacefully on June 15, 2015, at Frasier Meadows Health Care Center. Ken was born to Hannah and William Rees Davies in 1928 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He was predeceased in death by his parents, brothers Trevor and William "Tommy" Davies and sister Marion Jones. He is survived by his wife, Joyce of Boulder, his sister, Margaret An Morgan of Merthyr, his son Russell and his spouse, Swan of Arlington, TX, his daughter, Elizabeth Aiken, her spouse, Timothy, and two granddaughters, Hannah and colleen of Arlington, VA, and his son, Kenneth of Trinidad, CO. He and Joyce were married for 57 years. A memorial service, followed by a reception, will be held in the Phillips Chapel, Frasier Meadows Retirement Community on Saturday, July 18 at 2:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a memorial gift might be made to an educational non-profit of the donor's choice or to TRU Community Care, 2594 Trailridge Dr., Lafayette, CO 80026. Ken graduated in 1949, summa cum laude from the University of Wales, Swansea, and received his PhD in 1953. His research was in ionospheric physics and radio propagation. He emigrated to Toronto, Canada where he did research for the Dept. of Defense for three years. For the next three years he taught in Electrical Engineering Division at Brown University, Providence, RI. His move to Boulder to do research at the National Bureau of standards (now NOAA) was his last permanent career move. He was the author of several books and numerous articles on ionospheric radio propagation and served on many international committees. Ken's research was conducted in various parts of the world, including Africa, India and Europe. He and his family spent 1962-63 in England where he did research at the Radio and Research Station near Slough, and in 1975-76 the family joined him for a year in Queensland, Australia where his research continued at Queensland Univ., Brisbane. He enjoyed mentoring his younger colleagues, serving as Professor Adjunct at CU, Boulder, and as a guest professor at Wuhan Univ., China. After his retirement he spent a year doing research at the Max Plank Institute, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, having been awarded a Von Humboldt Fellowship. In addition he spent a semester at Kyoto University and six weeks at Wuhan Univ. Ken served for two years as president of Sigma Xi and was a member of IEEE. Always interested in civic affairs, Ken served as chairman of PLAN Boulder County and chairman of the Boulder Council for International Visitors. He was a member of the Current Affairs Discussion Group at Frasier Meadows Retirement Community, where he and Joyce have been residents for nine years. Please share your thoughts and condolences at legacy.com.