Kenneth L. Cooney

Ken Cooney was born in Holton, Kansas and had one brother six years older. He moved to Lebanon, Oregon when he was 12. Ken graduated from Lebanon Union High School where he was a cheerleader and lettered in football and track. In 1954 he went to OSU paying his own way working in paper mills, plywood mills, and logging. He joined Lambda Chi Alpha where they forced him to finally crack a book and study. Later he received a master's plus 45 at Oregon. In 1958 he met and married Vivian Lyon. After graduation in 1959 they moved to North Bend with Jill, their one-month-old daughter, to teach in Coos Bay for six years. Three years later, a second daughter, Joanne, was born. The family moved to Eugene in 1965 where Vivian received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Oregon. In 1969 Ken took his wife, daughters, and his parents to Europe and picked up a new VW camper in Brussels and toured Europe for 10 weeks. In 1973 Ken and Vivian divorced and after six years of single life, Ken married Linda Goff and helped raise her five-year-old daughter, Jessica. Raising her was pure joy for him. Ken was a resource teacher for four years, helping other teachers, but moved back to the classroom because he liked having his own kids for a whole year. He loved teaching and had a computer lab for third and fourth graders in the early eighties. Ken was a member of the Eugene Elks for over 60 years, was a trustee and officer of the year in 1991. He was an Eagle and was placed in the Eagles Hall of Fame for his work as a handy man and landscaper. In 1990 Ken retired from teaching and joined Prudential Real Estate. He listed two subdivisions. Linda died in 2018 but not before they toured the entire world repeatedly. It was a wonderful marriage for 40 years. Ken's greatest joy was watching his daughters and stepdaughter grow up and then watching their children and grandchildren grow up to be beautiful people. He said his life was more fantastic than he had ever dreamed as a boy! It was a wonderful Trip!