Kenneth L. Peek Jr.

Kenneth L. Peek, Jr.

Waco, TX - Kenneth Leroy Peek, Jr., Lt. General USAF (Retired) took his last flight on July 20, 2020 departing from Waco, Texas, five days before his 88th birthday joining Mary, his beloved wife of 63 years.

Gen. Peek was predeceased by his wife Mary, his father, Kenneth L. Peek, Sr, and mother, Edna Mae (Winterrowd) Peek of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is survived by his daughters: Dawn (Stan) Crawford of Albuquerque, NM, Allyson Anderson of Waco, TX and Elise (Michael) Jacko of Killeen, TX, sister Terri Tock of Spring Hill, TN, five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews and cousins plus many others who lovingly called him PaPa.

Born in Indianapolis, Gen. Peek was active in his youth with Lynhurst Baptist Church which is just a short walk from his childhood home. A 1950 graduate of Ben Davis High School, he was inducted into the Ben Davis Alumni Wall of Fame in 2011. Gen. Peek was also honored by Indiana State University as a 1982 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. He also attended Wabash College, the University of Nebraska (BS in Business Administration and Management) and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (MS in Mass Communications).

Commissioned in 1953 through the Aviation Cadet Program, Gen. Peek retired in 1988 after 35 years of service as a U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General. He married Mary Eunice Hargett upon pilot training graduation in 1955. During his extraordinary career, Gen. Peek flew nuclear alert missions in a B-47 bomber worldwide during the Cold War, 101 B-52 bombing missions over Viet Nam, flew the Airborne Command Post and ultimately the SR-71 Blackbird. His final command position in the Air Force was as Vice Commander of the Strategic Air Command.

Gen. Peek's military decorations and awards for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters and Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters. Gen. Peek was also awarded the Order of the Sword, presented to those held in the highest esteem by Air Force noncommissioned officers.

A visitation was held on Saturday, July 25 on what would have been Gen. Peek's 88th birthday at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey funeral home in Waco. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington DC. Memorial contributions may be made to Fisher House, fisherhouse.org and Fuzzy Friends Rescue, fuzzyfriendsrescue.com. For a detailed tribute and video celebration of his life: https://bit.ly/KLPeekTributeVideo and obituary here https://bit.ly/KLPeekJrWacoObit.