Kenneth Ross Ingle Jr.

Welcome to our page celebrating the life of Kenneth Ingle, who died January 24, 2021 at age 82 in his home in Indianapolis. He dearly loved his large, extended family, which congregates every summer at cottages on a lake in southern Wisconsin. He enjoyed solving troublesome mechanical problems with motors, wiring and plumbing, once pulling the engine from a Saab car in his garage and suspending it from a hanging pipe for several months to work on it. He was often outdoors, whether boating, hiking or sitting in conversation with others. A patient man, he listened attentively to people and had a clear sense of justice.

Ken was the son of Kenneth Ross Ingle Sr. and Dorothy Gill Ingle. He was born in Evansville, Indiana in December 1938. Growing up, he spent summers at his family’s property on Lauderdale Lakes in Wisconsin. He loved classical music, playing both piano and French horn all the way through college. He graduated from DePauw University in 1960, having spent an exciting year in Vienna, Austria that he remembered fondly throughout his life.

Ken met his future wife, Elizabeth Johnson (Betsy), when his older sister, Carolyn, married Betsy’s brother, Walker Johnson. Betsy and Ken were married in Betsy’s hometown of Madison, Wisconsin in July 1964. As a young couple, they spent two years in the Philippines teaching college through the U.S. Peace Corps. The experience forever informed how they viewed society and social justice challenges.

Ken took on new career challenges throughout his life. He was a physicist at Ball Brothers Research Corp. in Colorado, an independent oil producer in southern Indiana and western Kentucky and, later, a computer technician. During his work on small oil properties in Kentucky he came to value greatly the companionship of local men he hired as contractors. The men ate their dinner together outdoors at 11 a.m. each day, talking hunting, dogs and family and included Ken, an outsider, in their conversations.

A member of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Carmel, Indiana for more than 30 years, Ken relished discussions about religious faith. He retired from work at age 64 and became a founding board member of the Kettle Moraine Land Trust, a land preservation and conservation non profit in southern Wisconsin. In Indiana he was a conscientious inspector at voting precincts for a number of years.

Ken is survived by his wife of 57 years, Betsy; his sister, Carolyn (Walker) Johnson; his two children, Kathryn (John) Calkins and Edward (Megan) Ingle; and four grandchildren, Isabelle and Charlotte Calkins, and Largo and Noble Ingle. He also leaves behind numerous nieces and nephews. The whole family still enjoys the Lauderdale property that he tended so carefully. They will keep Ken’s sense of fairness and love of family and place alive and thriving. We will miss him!

Memorial contributions may be made to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra or to the Kettle Moraine Land Trust.