Kenneth Everett Neywick

Ken was born in Salina Kansas on August 15, 1935. Around 1940, the family moved to Evansville, Indiana. He Attended Vogel grade school, and Bosse high school where he was on the track team. He Graduated from Evansville college (now University of Evansville) with Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1958. He was in the ROTC, a chess champion and table tennis champion while in college. He co-oped every other quarter for a year at Oak Ridge Tennessee where he worked at the Union Carbide Plant where enriched uranium is manufactured for nuclear weapons. He travelled home on the weekends to visit family and his girlfriend, Joan Spindler. He also enjoyed spelunking in Tennessee with friends, going places deep underground where no one had ever been before.
After graduation he went into the Air Force. His first assignment was at Radar site in Winslow Arizona. He joined the Catholic Church and got married to Joan Spindler at St. Benedict's catholic church (now cathedral) on 05/09/1959. After 8 months he was sent to Kotzebue, Alaska for a year. His main function was to repair the radar installations. While there he enjoyed fishing, and helped build an ice sailboat with the sails made out of parachute silk to quell their boredom. They were able to "sail" around on the ice. Also while in Alaska, the salmon fishing was so good they would fill the boat.
For the next 20 years in the air force he was stationed at various places. After Alaska -> Sacramento -> Barksdale Air Force base where first son Kenneth III was born. From there they went to Norman Oklahoma, where 2nd son Gregory was born. While there, Ken attended Oklahoma University (OU) working on his master's degree. For his thesis he worked on developing the first light emitting diode (LED). Unfortunately the Air Force would not extend his time there and he had to leave for his next assignment, leaving the work to be finished by others. From there he went to Naha air force base in Okinawa. Joan was pregnant with 3rd son Stephen and was unable to join him in Okinawa until after he was born in Evansville, Indiana. For the last 6 months of the assignment he was sent to Clark's air base in Manilla, The Philippines. From there it was back to Sacramento, CA for a year where he did radar bomb scoring. Then it was on to McCord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington from 1970-74. From there he was given orders to Misawa, Japan to maintain one of the large radar installations known as the "Elephant Cage" from 1974-77. He had to wait 9 months for the proper security clearances before leaving for Japan. After that it was to San Antonio for a year where he retired from the Air Force in 1978, with the rank of Captain. From there they settled in Richardson, Texas where he worked for Dan Ray which was later bought by Nortel. In 1998 he retired from Nortel. Two of his sons were married that same year, Gregory on August 1st and Kenneth III on September 5th.
While stationed in Okinawa, he made many trips to Korea and Vietnam to repair radar installations. While in Vietnam due to his job as radar repair, he did run into a few situations where there was real danger that he might not come home. He was in Saigon in 1965 during the TET offensive and was present when the Viet Cong dropped bombs on the city. There was a radar installation almost overrun while he was present. He was awarded his first oak leaf cluster in 1977 for meritorious service. Later, during his 2nd stay in Sacramento he worked radar bomb scoring. Due to his prowess playing chess, the Air Force would send him around the world to compete in chess tournaments. Just for the record his great grandfather was a chess master from Sweden.
Ken had many hobbies which included building model kits of airplanes and cars, was a good chess player, cribbage, handball, tennis, squash, racquetball. He was a very accomplished racket player, especially in racquetball. While he was going to OU, he would play on the courts that were under the OU football stadium at the time. Due to his skill, the OU football coach, Bud Wilkerson asked him to teach his offensive and defensive lineman how to play racquetball in order to increase their foot speed. He built a fiberglass hydro boat, loved skiing, sailing, fishing, scuba diving. While scuba diving in the Philippines, he loved to talk about the aggressive, 8ft hammerhead shark they named Charlie that they had to be constantly on the lookout for. He loved spelunking one trip in particular taking him down more than 700 ft below ground into caves full of crystal formations that shone like diamond mines under their lights. He loved photography and took a lot of pictures. He was a brown belt in judo, He loved to fly and became a private pilot and later became an instructor. His love of flying extended to the building of the BD-5 airplane in Misawa, Japan, and later the garage. Funny story, due to weight considerations coming back from Japan, the wings and canopy for his kit rode in an ambulance and made a medic flight back to the states. We are still not sure how he arranged that. Around 1994 he acquired a hard landed full plane to mix with his kit in order to put the wrecked one back together. He worked on that on and off throughout the years with the goal to get it in the air. The BD5 became his main hobby and his first love as far as hobbies go. His 2nd hobby he loved in the later years was to go sailing with his friend Bob. He loved to play cards, bridge, clabber (southern Indiana German game), He was a good mechanic and repair man. His favorite cars were his 1962 Austin Healey and his 1968 Dodge Charger. In Okinawa he also had a motorcycle and a Jeep.
Ken also loved his Afghan hounds, owning 4 of them during his life, along with a few other dogs here and there. Sasha Rose is still here taking care of Joan and missing Ken.
One of the most remarkable things that Ken did was save his wife's life. On February 6, 2006, he came home from one of his lunches with his friends just as she was in the process of having a ruptured a cerebral aneurysm. Ken came in and noticed she was showing signs of abnormal facial expression. His military training kicked in immediately. He called 911 and then performed artificial respiration until the medics arrived. The next two weeks he sat by her bedside trying to make her respond to verbal stimulation. Finally she responded by repeating their granddaughter's name and that was the beginning of her recovery.
Ken was a loving, devoted husband and father, but could be a little stern with the boys at times. He wanted them to grow up to be loving, thoughtful, and responsible sons. He was Joan's rock, nurse, teacher, life-saver, mentor, and main support in her projects. Ken was a great friend and neighbor; he was one who knew a lot about a lot of things and a little bit about everything else. When someone needed help they knew they could count on Ken. If they didn't really need physical help they knew they could borrow his tools. God Blessed Ken with the ability to be a jack of all trades; he was a mechanic, electrician, builder, painter, locksmith, jewelry repairmen, and Joan's honey-doer. He filled the house with Love and confidence. God bless his parents for their guidance.
Ken is preceded in death by his parents Caroline Blandine Cornellisson and Everett Kenneth Neywick; grandson, Timothy Wood; sister, Hazel Ann Mertens; nephew, Brett Mertens.
Those left to cherish Kenneth's memory include his beloved wife of 66 years, Joan; three sons, Kenneth III, Gregory and wife Angela, Stephen and wife Laura; granddaughter, Hailey Neywick; grandson, Matthew Wood; nephew, Randy Mertens and wife Tammy; and great nephew, Tyler Mertens and his wife. Ken lived a wonderful and amazing life, and he will be missed.
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