Kenneth G Preston

PRESTON, Kenneth G., 91, passed away on April 10, 2025. For sixty-eight exciting and wonderful years he was the husband, business partner, ski-buddy, travel agent, sous-chef, gardener and very best friend of his beloved wife, Rose Marie, who predeceased him. The Ken 'n Rose team raised three sons, Kevin (Lenor), Delaware, OH; Keith, Sarasota, FL; and Rob (Elia), Ocala, FL. Ken instilled the love of travel in his five grandchildren, Brooke (Brian) Moore, Heather (Lindsay), Mark, Kathryn and Kristina. He had a "great" time losing at Yahtzee and Sorry to the "greats", Madden and Mason Moore. Ken was predeceased by his parents, Helen and Henry, and brother David (survived by his wife Gerri and children Scott, Wendy, Terry and Andrew).
Ken and Rose shared a lot of adventurous international travels with their special friend, Gerald Innes. Ken's itineraries were legendary (both in historical detail and minutiae). Gerry also shared many meals and binged countless BBC series with them over the years.
Ken earned his BS degree from Adelbert College (CWRU) and began a career as a research scientist developing uses for the electron microscope. He continued his education at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, graduating with J.D. and LL.M. degrees. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1961. Ken shifted gears and practiced law for fifty-two years until his retirement in 2013, first as a sole practitioner, then in a partnership with his son, Kevin and finally as "of counsel" to Largent, Berry, Preston & Jamison Co., LPA.
Ken was part of the bar association committee which drafted the Ohio Family Law Act which introduced Dissolution of Marriage in the state of Ohio. He also was an Adjunct Lecturer in Speech and Rhetoric at Baldwin-Wallace College. During his legal career, Ken was a member of the Berea City Council, the Prosecutor and Law Director for the city, a Director of the Cuyahoga County Fair, a Commissioner of the Ohio Water Development Authority and Acting Judge of the Berea Municipal Court.
As an avocation, Ken was active in many local theater productions: Henry Higgins (My Fair Lady at the Beck Center); Charles Condomine (Blithe Spirit at the Greenbriar Theater); Sheridan Whiteside (The Man Who Came to Dinner at the Berea Summer Theater); Thomas Jefferson (1776 at the Berea Summer Theater); and virtually the entire Noel Coward canon of aristocratic British gentlemen of the 1930's (but in these roles he may not have been "acting").
The family wishes to thank Wesleyan Village, Elyria, Ohio and the Hospice of the Western Reserve for caring for Kenneth during his final journey. The Preston family requests your consideration of those charitable organizations or WVIZ/Ideastream Public Media (purveyor of all of Ken and Rose's favorite BBC productions), 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115 in lieu of flowers.
A Celebration of Life for both Rose Marie and Kenneth will be held on May 10, 2025 at Gunselman's Steakhouse & Bar, 7928 Main Street, Olmsted Falls, Ohio 44138. Come share a memory and enjoy the fellowship from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. Arrangements through Baker-Kensinger Funeral Home, Berea, Ohio.
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