Kenneth Emerson McDole

1942 - 2014

Kenneth Emerson McDole passed away peacefully December 16, 2014 at his home due to cardiac arrest. He had been suffering this past year from an unidentified lung problem that caused short breath, and which caused his death at the early age of 72. Ever courageous, he organized his affairs and warned family and friends that he expected his demise to be in the near future.
Kenneth was born in a unique location: Talara, Peru, the most westernmost point of the South American continent. His parents Ewell Emerson McDole and Eleanor Wright McDole lived there for some years, where Ewell worked as a petroleum engineer designing and operating the oil facilities of Talara. Kenneth's birth on Feb. 5, 1942 occurred in the midst of a black-out of the small hospital, occasioned by the patrol off the shore of enemy submarines in WWII. His mother referred to the experience as a fearful one, and the noise of the U.S. bombers roaring overhead from the nearby U.S. base drowned out all voice conversation. As one of the few children in the oil camp he led a special life there until as a young child the family returned to the United States.
Kenneth grew up in a number of cities in the United States, first in Longview, Washington, then Trona, California, followed by Spokane in Washington State. Four years in West Virginia were interspersed with residences in the Bay Area of California, as his father moved to design aluminum manufacturing plants throughout the U.S. Kenneth chose California as his place of permanent location, for community college and for later business ownership of his own firm. His life proved continually interesting as his military service in the U.S. Navy provided him almost a year-long patrol of the many ports of the Mediterranean Sea, and he endured the tense stand-off of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 in a small PT boat during the naval blockade of Cuba.
Kenneth met Yoshiko Takeuchi in Petaluma, and 32 years ago they married to form an enviable international marriage. From Petaluma they moved to Fremont, California, where Kenneth had taken on the position of manager of a plastics company. He later performed a similar role for other plastic manufacturing firms, then moved to Lockeford, California to establish his own production of a plastic valve he had invented, in space in Lodi. Yoshiko performed invaluable work in the firm, and they proved a true partnership in life, both in work and in play.
A man of many hobbies, everywhere he fished and hunted when possible, and read voraciously-always surrounded by books. A gourmand, fine foods always graced his table and unusual fruit trees flourished in his yard. But most of all, Kenneth was a man of many friends: From every walk of life, every occupation, he drew interesting companions who became loyal life-long friends. They speak of his intelligence, his curiosity, his unending generosity-and the pleasure of his company even after he became ill, for he excelled as a conversationalist.
Kenneth leaves behind his wife, Yoshiko McDole, his sister, Catherine McDole Rao and brother-in-law Dr. P.M. Rao of Seattle, Washington, his nephew Dr. Shanti Rao of Altadena, California, and his nephew Sanjay Rao of Seattle, Washington. In addition he leaves behind Yoshiko's sisters and brothers and their families in Japan. He will be interred at the Sacramento Valley VA National Cemetery, Dixon, CA. Donations are suggested in his memory with the American Lung Association or the American Diabetes Association.