Dwain Lorne "Hooky" Kitchel

Dwain "Hooky" Lorne Kitchel, Sr., age 92, of Knoxville, Tennessee, passed away Thursday, February 19, 2026, at Knoxville Landing, among family, friends, and the staff there, whom he adored.

Dwain is survived by half-brother, Les Kitchell of Mountain Home, Arkansas; son, Dwain Lorne Kitchel, Jr., and daughter-in-law, Jordie of New Albany, Indiana; son, David Laurance Kitchel of Nashville, Tennessee; daughter, Elizabeth Kitchel Ethridge and son-in-law, Todd Ethridge of Knoxville; daughter, Jacqui Kitchel Wadsworth and son-in-law, Beau Wadsworth of Sevierville, Tennessee; grandchildren, Darren Kitchel of Knoxville; Brian and Benjamin Kitchel of Chicago, Illinois; Nathan Alexander of Knoxville, Tennessee; Grace Alexander of Sevierville, Tennessee; Jacob Alexander and his wife, Grace, of New York City, New York, with great-grandchildren Julian and Tommy; along with a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends.

He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 38 years, Margaret "Maggie" Cockman Kitchel; his mother, Grace Helen (Thrasher), and Theodore "Joe" Treat of Lead Hill, Arkansas; his father, Gaither Kitchell of Cotter, Arkansas; brother, Gaither Harold Kitchell; sisters, Delores Kitchel Clem and Nancy Kitchell Baledge; and grandson Nick Wadsworth of Sevierville, Tennessee.

Dwain was born in 1933 in Flippin, Arkansas, and graduated from Clearwater High School, Clearwater, Kansas, in 1951. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1951. After completing basic training, Dwain was assigned to the Security Service in Washington, D.C., in 1953. He applied for aviation cadet training and was assigned to Lackland AFB and then Ellington AFB in Houston, where he met his first wife, Joan Bennett. They were married in 1953. Dwain became a Second Lieutenant as a Radar Observer in 1954 at Great Falls AFB, Montana, having trained in prop planes and then flying the first jet interceptor with an afterburner. Four months later, as the Air Force phased out the Lockheed Starfires, he was transferred to Bismarck, North Dakota, as Adjutant of a radar site, though he served as Acting Commander much of the time. He was responsible for establishing many ground observer posts during their heyday. Because of this experience, he became Information Services Officer for the 9841st when he was released from active duty and entered the University of Arkansas in June 1957.

At the University of Arkansas, he crammed a four-year electrical engineering course into three years while maintaining membership in Tau Beta Pi and Pi Mu Epsilon, working as secretary of the American Institute of Electrical Engineering, and serving as both mayor and area manager of Terry Village-all as a young married father. Even though he earned his degree, he would eventually attend three more universities as he pursued his lifelong love of learning: the University of Alabama, the University of Florida, and the University of Tennessee.

In 1961, Dwain began his electrical engineering career with General Electric in Utica, New York, but soon transferred to Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the team designing the Saturn V rockets used in NASA's Apollo program. He worked as Group Leader on the Saturn Swing Arm Test Support Program and eventually transferred to Kennedy Space Center Support Operations as a Project Engineer in April 1967. After participating in every Apollo mission, Dwain left NASA in 1972 as a General Electric contractor and returned to Northwest Arkansas to pursue a brief career as a cattle rancher and logger.

In 1974, he started at TVA in Knoxville, Tennessee, where, by 1987, he was a Senior Nuclear Engineer and Environmental Qualification Project Manager for the Watts Bar Engineering Project. While working at TVA, Dwain was introduced, by mutual friends, to the love of his life, Margaret. They were married in 1977.

With his sister Deloris, brother-in-law Bill, and his wife, Dwain began compiling the genealogical Kitchell Family History, which soon launched Tennessee Valley Publishing Company, which he and Margaret ran together with the help of their daughter Elizabeth. Dwain continued to support a few TVP projects until he closed the business in 2023.

Throughout these years, Dwain was a devoted family man with a great many interests. He taught all kids and grandkids to drive, swim, camp, canoe and take tests, as well as push past our limits to succeed. He had a pilot's license and was an avid golfer. With his sons, David and Dwain, and many friends, he canoed numerous white-water rivers around the area. He also played basketball, participating in TVA leagues and coaching his grandsons. Later in life, he became a serious table tennis player, winning a gold medal in the U.S. Senior Olympics, multiple state championships, and various other medals.

Finally, he loved his precious kitties. All who knew him loved him, and he loved them all in return, making them laugh with his joyful sense of humor.

A visitation will be held Wednesday, February 25th, at Rose Funeral and Cremation - Mann Heritage Chapel, 6200 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. A memorial service celebrating Dwain's life will follow at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in Dwain's name may be made to Young-Williams Animal Center, 6400 Kingston Pike #4833, Knoxville, TN 37919, USA: https://www.young-williams.org/support/one-time/.