Dr. E.K. Greenwald

1936 - 2025

Dr. E. K. (Ken) Greenwald

June 19, 1936 - February 8, 2025

On February 8, 2025, a brilliant spark went out. Dr. E.K. Greenwald, PhD, P.E. (Ken) passed away at the Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville, Tenn.

Ken was born June 19, 1936, in Dayton, Ky. While Ken was a child of the Great Depression, he aspired to an amazing life of achievement and success.

Built like a Mack Truck, Ken excelled in sports. At Worthington (Ohio) High School, he played first-string varsity football, baseball and track. He was named by the Columbus Dispatch newspaper to the all-state defensive football team.

To his wife, Marilyn Kennedy Greenwald, he will always be her He-man.

Ken was a natural student and life-long learner.

While a junior in high school, Ken was selected by the Atomic Energy Commission as the Ohio student representative to participate in the AEC's summer engineering program at the Sandia National Lab in Albuquerque, N.M. Five years later, he was employed there and was present at the last U.S. above-ground nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site. He is one of the few people who has witnessed an atomic explosion.

Ken was appointed to the U.S Naval Academy and spent time on the aircraft carrier, USS Antietam. Upon discharge, he enrolled at The Ohio State University.

While at OSU, Ken was elected president of Sigma Pi Sigma, an OSU physics honorary. As a result, he spent time with Nobel Laureates Linus Pauling, Ph.D. and Richard Feyman, Ph.D.

Ken graduated from The Ohio State University with a double Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics and Cardiovascular Physiology in Biophysics.

He was awarded a Post Doctoral Fellowship at the Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology at Indiana University School of Medicine and later was appointed assistant professor of electrical engineering and investigator at the Space Science Center at the University of Missouri.

As the Director of Research and Product Development at C.R. Bard in Glen Falls, N.Y., Ken collaborated on open heart surgeries with Lasker Award winner, Michael DeBakey, MD, a world-famous heart surgeon. He also worked with Dr. Denton Cooley.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Ken a Young Investigator Fellowship for his cardiovascular research.

Ken was a registered engineer in Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Ken started and sold engineering business that innovated physical plant designs and saved clients millions of dollars in energy costs.

Ken was cajoled out of retirement to join the University of Wisconsin engineering faculty. In that capacity, he lectured around the world. He taught across the continental U.S. and Alaska, Canada, England, Germany, Thailand, Egypt and French Polynesia.

In 1991, The CIA asked Ken to develop and teach a special course at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA. That course is still classified.

Ken has written three books. As a result, he was asked to serve as a member of the OSHA Electrical Rule Making Committee, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority and the National Fire Protection Association which writes the National Electrical Code.

He has met Queen Elizabeth. Sailed the QEII. Flown the Concord. Toured the Pyramids. Ridden a dog, mule, horse, elephant, and a camel. He's done over 200 mph at Indy, 210 mph on the Autobahn and 250 mph on a train through three different countries.

But Ken would tell you that all paled in comparison to the excitement of meeting Marilyn. While he was the engineer, she electrified his life.

On April 1, 1999, Ken met Marilyn as his new State Farm agent in Madison, Wis. That day he went home and wrote her name on his calendar and prayed it was not an April Fool's joke.

On June 28, 2001, the happiest day of his life, he and Marilyn were married on a mountain top overlooking Lake Tahoe.

In the years since, Marilyn and Ken travelled the world and experienced many adventures. They climbed mountains and snorkeled the deep. They sailed rivers on their yacht, Wild Irish Rose, from Tellico Lake to the Gulf of America.

After every expedition, they always returned to their beloved Bear's Den overlooking layers of blue on Tellico Lake and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Marilyn and Ken spent six years as EMTs with the Vonore Fire Department. They gave generously to academic scholarships, community fundraisers and support to those who strived to reform their lives.

The spark may be gone, but Ken's brilliance and warmth will be remembered by his wife of 23 years, Marilyn; his sister-in-law, Maureen Kennedy Boelter (Bob); his brother-in-law, Mick Klein-Kennedy (Sue); nieces, Bridget and Molly (Beau); nephews, Bobby (Samantha) and Casey (Amanda); and grand-nieces and nephews, Mia, Nicolas, Daisy and Dani and all who loved him.

Heartfelt thanks go out to the caring and gentle staff at Knoxville's Parkwest Medical Center.

Memorials can be made in Ken's name to the Vonore Fire Department c/o Vonore City Hall, 613 Church Street, Vonore, TN 37885 or to the Mary Jeanne Kennedy Anderson Youth Scholarship Fund c/o Catholic Charities, 702 S. High Point Road, Suite 201, Madison, WI 53719 or at ccmadison.org.