Kenneth Davis Meeker 1929 - 2024

Kenneth Davis Meeker died at age 94 on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

Ken was a beloved husband, dad, stepdad, and step-grandad. A man of faith, he enjoyed lay leadership in the Episcopal Church in McMinnville, Oregon, and Southeast Portland.

Ken was born in Portland, lived with parents Phillip and Iona in Vancouver, Washington, moved to Amity, Oregon, and finished high school there in 1947. He completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering at Oregon State College in 1952 with an Air Force commission the same day. In August that year, he entered two years active duty as an aircraft maintenance officer in San Antonio, Texas. He returned home to Oregon, joining both his father-in-law’s construction business and his father’s seed and grain business.

In 1956, Ken joined the Boeing Company in Seattle as an experimental flight test engineer on large military jet aircraft. In 1961, Ken joined, as sales engineer, the new Field Emission Corporation, which grew out of Linfield Research Institute of McMinnville.

In 1965, he and his wife June moved with his family to Southeast Portland. Ken joined the technical sales staff at NW Natural Gas Company, where he served until retirement in 1995.

He is survived by his wife, Bettie; his brother, Tony (Carolyn) of Amity, Oregon; his sisters, Phyllis Tarter and Sue (Richard) Reid of Salem, Oregon; his children, Cheryl (Ishan Clemenco) of San Francisco, Laurie (Maria Trevizo) of Olympia, Washington, and David of Gresham, Oregon; stepsons, Larry Warinner of Gresham, and Steve (Mary) Warinner of Northglenn, Colorado; five step-grandchildren; five step-great-grandchildren; and one step-great-great-grandchild.   

 A memorial service is planned for later this spring at All Saints Episcopal Church in Portland. In lieu of flowers, the family recommends a charitable donation to one of Ken’s favorite organizations: All Saints Episcopal Church (allsaintspdx.org), Foundation Fighting Blindness (fightingblindness.org), Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp (mhkc.org), Tucker Maxon School (tuckermaxon.org).