Kenneth Leroy Layton

Obituary of Kenneth Leroy Layton
Born August 3, 1955, at Fort Ord, California, and a resident of Thurston County for nearly 50 years, passed away peacefully at his home on October 26, 2021.
Ken's younger years were filled with family moves from California to Olympia to Tumwater, then back to several cities in Central California between 1966 and1972, when the family returned to Olympia. Ken graduated from Olympia High School in 1973.
Ken had a varied and fun-filled (seriously!) career repairing pinball machines, video games, old movie projectors, old radios, and old cameras. He was self-taught: reading books, magazine articles, talking to various people in person and over the phone, and as technology changed, the Internet. Over the years, he became one of the most knowledgeable references for the repairing of arcade and theater projection equipment, and was well known for helping people throughout the United States and around the world with his wisdom and advice.
In the amusement industry, Ken worked at Capital Amusements for many years, honing his skills. Then he worked with Steve Mildenberger for over 20 years (Steve's Amusements), repairing and restoring pinball machines and video games. Most recently he worked with Welby Bergum (the Olympia Pinball Museum).
Over the years, Ken was also a projectionist at downtown Olympia movie theaters and at the Skyline Drive-In Theater in Shelton. He was a wealth of historical knowledge of the original, "old time" theaters like the Capitol, the Olympic, and the State Theaters in downtown Olympia, the Sunset Drive-In Theater in Tumwater, and the Lacey Drive-In Theater. He helped others with repairs or restorations of other movie theaters in the Pacific Northwest, including the Fox Theater in Centralia. He also enjoyed helping Michael Fritsch with various projects around the Eastside Big Tom property.
Ken obviously loved working on all those machines, but he also loved old movies, old classic cartoons, and old TV shows, especially the Three Stooges, Lost in Space, and Green Acres. He had quite a collection of those shows, and many others, on VHS tapes, as well as many books about his favorite shows.
Ken had many lifelong friends and associates who will miss him.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Frederick L. Layton and Shirley J. (Wright) Layton. He is survived by younger brother, Gene Layton (Marty Wiebe) of Centralia; sister, Marie Holts of Lacey; stepbrothers, Bruce (Jeanette) Adams of Olympia, and Jeff Adams of Alaska; stepsister, Kelly Adams of Bellingham; nephews, Sam Layton of Olympia and Rob Holts (Chyvonna) of Wenatchee; nieces, Amy Layton of Olympia and Rachel Holts of Lacey; grandniece, Alexandra Holts of Lacey; uncle, George Layton (Carol) of Delta, Colorado; aunt, Charleen (Roger) Oscar of Tacoma; uncle, Russell Maninger; aunt, Joyce Spurgeon; aunt, Joann Kwandibens; aunt, Linda Triplett; aunt, Nancy McMahon (Frank); and numerous cousins across the country.
A Celebration of Ken's life will be held in Spring 2022.
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