Kenneth Arthur Skoog

Kenneth Arthur Skoog May 1923 to May 2019 Ken was born in Minneapolis with roots in Scandinavia, where family of both himself and Doris, his wife of nearly 70 years, left Sweden for Minnesota in the 19th century. He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Hilfreed Skoog and his wife, Doris. He is survived by his sons, Jim and Alan (Sandi) and daughter, Cheryl (Rick ) Jensen; 3 grandsons; Ross Johnson (Kari), Adam Johnson (Michelle) and Matt Jensen (Michelle); 8 great-grandchildren; Erik, Kaia, Emma, Eli, Corbin and Harlan Kenneth Johnson, Michaela and Mya Jensen; sister, Lorraine (Stan) Thorstenson and nieces and nephews. As a teenager, Ken spent his summers on his uncle's farm in St. Peter, Minnesota, where he developed a taste for home ownership and practical handyman skills. He graduated from Patrick Henry High School in North Minneapolis. Ken served in WWII in the Army Signal Corps in Europe where he and his cohorts used Morse code to spot and destroy enemy positions. He later earned his ham radio license, W0PTP, which he took up as a hobby and that along with his electronics proficiency spearheaded Ken's career, where he retired as a Quality Control Engineer for Control Data Corporation. In recent years, Ken and other local veterans were awarded a free "Honor Flight" to visit Washington DC memorials and he was very satisfied and gratified that he was still healthy enough to make that flight. Ken and Doris moved to New Brighton in 1949, building their first home near Lake Johanna and purchasing their second home in Pike Lake Terrace in 1959, where they both lived until their deaths and were members of the New Brighton Historical Society. Ken and Doris were charter members of Christ the King Lutheran Church in New Brighton and were also members of the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. They enjoyed traveling, beginning with family camping trips and when the family was grown, they took numerous tours overseas, visiting over 40 countries and later enjoyed many bus trips within the USA. Ken enjoyed bowling, golf, stamp collecting, gardening, genealogy and fishing. He was always toying with radios, computers, and gadgets. He has also had lifetime memberships at Arcana Masonic Lodge and at the Spring Lake Park VFW. Moving into retirement, he joined the Zuhrah Shrine in Minneapolis, where he has been active in the Mobile Nobles and the Zarc Ham Radio Club. Into his 90s, Ken wrote a monthly column for the Zuhrah Arabian, a Shrine newspaper that reported the activities of the Zarc Ham Radio Club. With civic pride, Ken has kept track of recognition dates on the calendar, making sure to fly his flag and vote in elections. His favorite meals were Lutefisk dinners, and Norwegian Torsk Club banquets. Ken had a very good sense of humor and was fond of sharing little vignettes that would make others laugh. He found subtle puns and pointed out peculiar double meanings. Quite often there would be things that Ken picked up from his own childhood that he would use again for fun. For example, once while he was driving us down to visit his uncle's farm in St. Peter in the 1950s, we were reading road signs and looking for excitement along 169 and one of the small towns we passed through was Belle Plaine. With precise timing he switched the words around and they became "Plain Belly!" He had great feel for when humor was needed to break the ice and turn boredom or straight faces into smiles. Ken was also sensitive to trends at his job and to the happenings of his neighborhood and community. Arriving home after a day at work, he shared his thoughts and feelings and was not afraid to celebrate or blow off steam about traffic, events, behaviors, and news that caught his eye. With his consistent exposure to personnel at work and his membership groups like the Masons or Shiners, he was seldom short of topics to discuss. Ken's family, faith and character meant a lot to him. He kept very careful track of certain marriages, births, and deaths within the covers of his confirmation Bible. When he was confirmed, he received a very fine Nelson's addition of the King James Bible with helps and a concordance within padded flexible covers. He let his children take his Bible to Sunday school and he slipped articles and notes between the covers to save history of family importance. He slipped in the same kinds of secular notes to mark pages in the World Almanacs he liked to collect for every year. As with these books, Ken's presence in the rooms of his home and the spaces of his heart and community live on. Until his last, Ken also kept the memories of his late wife Doris alive in every way possible.

Tributes

Kenneth Arthur Skoog

May 28, 1923 - May 11, 2019

Tributes

Kenneth Arthur Skoog

May 28, 1923 - May 11, 2019

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