Dr. Kenneth Kost

Dr. Kenneth R. Kost, M.D., 73, of Kittanning RD7, died Wednesday, March 28, 2007, at his home after a seven-month battle with lung cancer. He was born Feb. 9, 1934, in Swissvale to the late Bert Edward and Hulda (Brueck) Kost and also was predeceased by brothers Fred and Bert Kost and sister Hulda Malone. Dr. Kost graduated from Swissvale High School in 1951, where he was valedictorian, and from Washington & Jefferson College in 1955, where he was summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He then continued his education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, graduated in 1959 and was a Mellon Scholar in 1956. He completed his internship at the University of Cincinnati in 1960 and from 1960 to 1965 was chief resident physician at the University of Pittsburgh. From 1965 to 1995, he was the general vascular surgeon at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, retiring after 30 years of service. He was a past member of the board of directors, chairman of the department of surgery at ACMH, medical director of the Armstrong County Jail, Health Systems Agency of Western Pennsylvania, past chief of staff at ACMH and past president of the Armstrong County Medical Society and the Pittsburgh Surgical Society. His memberships also included Outstanding Young Men of America; the American College of Surgeons, where he served as a fellow in 1968, and a diplomat of the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Kost held numerous teaching positions at UPMC, Slippery Rock State College and Deshon Veterans Hospital, Butler, and also served on many advisory committees locally and statewide. After his retirement in 1995, he did volunteer work in China and Africa with Doctors without Borders. He was a member of Kittanning Country Club, enjoyed golfing, traveling, music and science and was an avid reader. He is survived by his wife, Mandy (Secondo) Kost; son, Kenneth John Kost and wife Janice of Wexford; daughters, Cecily Renee Waratuke and husband Steve of Bridgewater, Mass., and Kerry Ann Wolenski and husband Paul of Hudson, Ohio; granddaughters, Kaelin Christine, Olivia Marie and Elizabeth Anne Kost, Emma Rose and Juliet Madeline Waratuke and Anna Renee Wolenski; stepgranddaughter, Helena Wolenski; brothers, Robert Kost, of Coraopolis, and Richard Kost, of Monroeville; sister, Lois Forquer, of Rockville, Md., and beloved Lab, Brutus. His family will continue to grow with the birth of his first grandson, Clayton Kenneth Kost, in June. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the BAUER FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATION SERVICES INC., 515 N. McKean St., Kittanning, where services will be at 11 a.m. Friday with Ronald G. Shafer officiating. Interment will be in Lawn Haven Burial Estates, East Franklin Township. Memorial contributions may be made to the Richard G. Laube Cancer Center, the VNA Hospice of Butler or the Orphans of the Storm. To send an online condolence: www.bauer funeralhome.com.