Kenneth R. Lydecker

YARMOUTHPORT — Kenneth R. Lydecker, of Yarmouthport, passed away Monday, Nov. 3, 2008, at Cape Regency Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Centerville.

Mr. Lydecker was born in Hackensack, N.J., on April 8, 1924, the son of Kenneth and Eugenie (Lexow) Lydecker. He graduated from Hackensack High School in 1942, attended the Citadel in South Carolina and then enlisted in the Army in 1943. He was in the Fifth Division Mechanized Calvary in Germany and France.

Upon returning to the United States after World War II, he enrolled at Stevens Institute of Technology and received his mechanical engineering degree in June of 1950. He married the woman he was "crazy about" Marjorie Haight on June 11, 1949.

Ken and Marge moved to the Cape in 1962, settling first in West Dennis and later in Dennis and Yarmouthport. He began his career with the Colonial Gas Co. as an engineer, later becoming the executive vice president.

He was a longtime member of the United Methodist Church in South Yarmouth, serving as treasurer for many years. He was an active member of Rotary International in Hyannis, serving at different times as president and treasurer, and a Paul Harris Fellow. He served as a director of Cape Cod Bank & Trust, Cape Cod Hospital, Colonial Gas, Independence Park, and was at one time the chairman of the civilian advisory board of Otis Air Force Base. He was on the Dennis School Committee in the 1960s.

In recent years, he enjoyed his retirement traveling, playing golf and visiting his family.

Ken is survived by his wife of 59 years, Marjorie H. Lydecker; a daughter, Nancy Petersons and husband Eriks of Mechanic Falls, Maine; three sons, Kenneth Lydecker and wife Christine of Intervale, N.H., Peter Lydecker and wife Linda of Reading, and Stephen Lydecker and wife Donna of Snellville, Ga. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The youngest of five children, he is also survived by his sister, Eleanor Beardsley of Yarmouthport; sister-in-law, Ruth Lydecker of Dennis; many nieces and nephews; and his faithful Dachshund Katrina. He was predeceased by his brother, Charles Lydecker, and two sisters, Caroline Crescenzi and Eugenie Condrillo.

Visiting hours are Nov. 11, 2008, from 3 to 6, at the Doane, Beal & Ames Funeral Home, on Route 134, in South Dennis.

A celebration of Ken's life will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008, at 10 a.m., at the United Methodist Church, on Old Main Street, in South Yarmouth, with an interment to follow on Thursday, at Oak Hill Cemetery, at 1:30 p.m., in Nyack, N.Y.

Donations in memoriam may be sent to The Education Foundation of Dennis and Yarmouth Inc., P.O. Box 522, South Yarmouth, MA 02664, or The Memorial Fund of the South Yarmouth United Methodist Church, 922 Main St., South Yarmouth, MA 02664.

Doane, Beal & Ames

508-385-7116