- Date Of Birth: January 23, 1946
- Date Of Death: April 28, 2022
- State: Colorado
Ken was born on January 23,1946 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Harry and Florence Westlund. Growing up Ken enjoyed time with his two older brothers, Roy and Arnie and six nieces and nephews. He attended Pilgrim Lutheran school and St. Croix Lutheran High School where he learned to love his Lord and Savior.
Ken attended the University of Minnesota majoring in Political Science and History. He was an active part of Lutheran Collegian Student Organization where he met his wife Suzanne. They were married in August of 1969.
After graduation, Ken found employment with the Army at Rock Island, Illinois, and he and Suzanne made their first home in Davenport, Iowa. Eleven weeks later, Ken was drafted into the army and called to serve for 2 years. He became a part of the Army Signal Corp, where Ken and Suzanne were temporarily stationed at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. He was then assigned an unaccompanied tour to Thailand for one year. This experience definitely piqued Ken’s interest in world travel.
During his absence, Suzanne lived in Minnesota and gave birth to their first son Erik.
Ken was honorably discharged in November of 1971 and the family moved back to Davenport Iowa where son’s Kurt and Jonathan were born.
When Ken became aware that civilian employees had the opportunity to live and work over seas, his desire to see the world turned into two 3-year accompanied tours to Japan (1976-79 and 1988-91).
Following the final tour to Japan, the family returned to Iowa and Ken became a part of the Army Management Engineering College at Rock Island. He traveled extensively to both military and private organizations around the world teaching Business Processes.
After retuning to the states from Japan, Ken was asked to be a part of the WELS World Mission Board and for 8 years he served as the liaison to our Japanese Lutheran Missions. This provided him with many more interesting travels to both Europe and Asia.
In 1993, the Army College offered Ken the opportunity to move to Denver and begin a branch training center for military installations in Colorado. Without hesitation, Ken accepted and Colorado became a big part his family’s life. Ken’s love for God’s beautiful creation and his desire to explore made him into a real camper and hiker. One of his favorite sayings was,”Go where no Westlund has gone before.” While living in Colorado, two beautiful daughter-in-laws joined the Westlund family.
Ken is survived by his wife Suzanne of 52 years, sons Erik, Kurt and his wife Heidi, Jonathan and his wife Lindsay, and one precious grandchild, Avery Kay.
A loving, kind and gentle man, Ken passed away in his home the evening of April 28th, at the age of 76 years 3 months.
To God Be the Glory!
