- Date Of Birth: June 9, 1929
- Date Of Death: June 2, 2020
- State: Georgia
Ken was born on June 7, 1929, in Lynchburg, VA & passed away June 2, 2020 in Clayton, GA.
His parents: Luther & Gladys Roach; two brothers, Marion & Luther Jr. and first wife, Marie, predeceased him.
He leaves his wife, Nina Arlene, two daughters by his first wife (Marie) Kathryn Heller & Wendy Peterson, (Kenny Peterson) & 2 grandsons Ian & Casey Peterson. He also leaves 3 step sons, Edward, Tim and Andrew Walls & spouses and 6 step-grandchildren and 4 step great-grandchildren.
After completing high school in Lynchburg, Ken worked for a number of years as a lab technician in the tannin extract laboratory of Mead Corporation in Lynchburg.
When drafted into the Army during the Korean War, his experience as a lab tech with Mead, classified him as a Medic. He was assigned to infantry basic training & sent to Ft. Jackson, SC for 12 weeks.
Using his GI Bill of Rights, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Science: Special subjects were Mathematics and Physics, all completed in two and a half years. During the last year of college, he obtained a summer position at Babcock & Wilcox, in Akron, Ohio.
One of Ken’s assignments with this company was to teach a course in reactor physics to the deck officers of the first nuclear merchant ship, NS Savannah. He also taught for the University of Virginia in their night school extension in Lynchburg for 18 semesters. These were credit courses in Math and Physics.
Kenneth joined the American Nuclear Society in 1960 and after a number of years was awarded the honor of Life member. Later on, he was a co-founder of the Florida ANA Section and served as the second President of that organization. Ken authored and co-authored many papers, as well as making oral presentations for ANS. He served on the ANS Professional Engineering Exam Committee for a number of years before and after retirement. This involved preparing and grading the tests of those seeking the professional engineer (P.E.) status. He also enjoyed many years on the Engineering Advisory Council at the University of Florida.
After approximately ten years, Ken left B&W to join Dr. Walter Zinn’s consulting firm, General Nuclear, in Dunedin, FL. Within a year, Dr. Zinn sold his company to Combustion Engineering, of Connecticut, Ken and five others southern employees then formed their own company, Southern Nuclear Engineering. After being in business for nine successful years, the firm who financed SNE decided to sell the company to the NUS for about three years, and then left to start yet another consulting firm. Southern Science Applications, Inc, a Black & Veatch Company. Ken was a president of this company.
Prior to retirement Ken & Arlene became licensed Ham Radio operators and learned to sail.
And there you have some pieces of the life of a wonderful man, honest, ethical, intelligent, multi talented and kind. He was loved and revered by so many. We will all miss him greatly.
