Kenneth Armistead Ungermann

1917 - 2008

Kenneth Armistead Ungermann, 91, passed away at his home on Oct. 11, 2008.

Mr. Ungermann was born Oct. 23, 1916, in Birmingham, Ala., later moving to the New England and New York areas where he grew up. At 19 he toured Europe alone for several months on a shoestring budget. In 1940 he entered the American Field Service and served in northern Africa. He was subsequently trained as a pilot and became an Army Air Corps captain, flying combat missions over Europe during World War II, and was decorated with an Air Medal with three oak-leaf clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He brought his 8th Air Force B-17 crew home safely on each of its 32 missions.

Following the war, Mr. Ungermann managed a car dealership on Long Island, briefly owned a successful guest ranch in Arizona and researched the life of Pancho Villa, the Mexican Revolution general, in Mexico. He then returned to peacetime Europe as a journalist and was assigned to write for the International News Service in Paris. While in Paris he reported on NATO affairs and covered General Dwight Eisenhower's headquarters there.

It was also in Paris where he met and later married in 1951 Judith Ponsonby, a British citizen who was born in Barbados and had attended the University of California, Berkley. Because of his association with Gen. Eisenhower, Mr. Ungermann was recalled to the U.S. to cover the his successful 1952 presidential campaign. He also covered the State Department for INS during the first term of the Eisenhower administration before other fields called.

Perhaps his most fascinating adventure was homesteading on 160 acres near Wasilla, Alaska, with his family beginning in the late 1950s, arriving before statehood. While in Alaska, Mr. Ungermann became interested in and researched the history of the dog teams, whose stamina and bravery halted Nome, Alaska's diphtheria epidemic which occurred in mid-January 1925. It was a several-hundred-mile relay race of dog teams that began at the railhead of Nenana, near Fairbanks, and speedily transported life-saving medicine across the vast breadth of Alaska. His retelling of the episode later became the subject of his popular book published in the early 1960s, "The Race to Nome," which became the inspiration for the now-famous annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The lead dog of one of the teams, Balto, can be seen today as a bronze statue in New York City's Central Park commemorating this remarkable story.

In researching his book, he was able, by crisscrossing Alaska, to interview almost all of the dog team drivers who had contributed to the heroic effort in the depth of the Alaskan winter of 1925. His wife, Judith, assisted in editing the book while home-schooling the three boys at the homestead.

Later, Mr. Ungermann, always an avid seaman, became a commercial salmon and tuna fisherman, operating his own vessel from northern California on the Pacific and was at sea for days, and even weeks, at a time, solo, except for his Dachshund, Beanie. From this and the Alaska experience, Mr. Ungermann developed a deep appreciation for nature and the environment and the need to conserve our threatened natural heritage, a passion he maintained all of his life.

Mr. Ungermann is survived by two sons, Kenneth G. and Brett A. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Judith, and son Michael, as well as many beloved dogs who were his companions during his lifetime.

At Mr. Ungermann's request there will be no services held. Please direct memorial contributions in his name to either the World Wildlife Fund, the Sierra Club, The Humane Society of the U.S., or Doctors Without Borders, USA.

Craig Funeral Home, Crematory and Memorial Park is in charge of arrangements.