Kenneth L. DeLap, age ninety years, passed away peacefully at Our Hospice of South Central Indiana at 8:30 P.M. on Friday, November 23rd. The son of Russell and Sarah (Nolen) DeLap, he was born in West Frankfort, Illinois on March 22, 1928. After graduation from high school in 1946, he served in the United States Navy as Helmsman aboard the destroyer USS Lloyd Thomas. After being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1948, he attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in Rolla, Missouri, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1952.
After graduation, he moved to Columbus after taking a job with Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation. He helped found Southern Indiana Engineering Company, Inc. in 1953 with Gerald Hendricks and George Crowder. He later became President and majority stockholder growing the company to become one of the largest civil engineering consulting firms headquartered in Indiana. Later named SIECO, Inc., the firm provided water, wastewater, transportation, and industrial engineering services to its clients. Among many other accomplishments, he was instrumental in developing an engineering and financial solution to providing water to rural residents in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.
Committed to his community, he gave of his time and financial resources to a number of community causes. This included First Lutheran Church, Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, and the Columbus Regional Hospital Foundation. He served on numerous not-for-profit and local and state government boards and commissions. More importantly, he was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who always made time for his family.
Upon moving to Columbus, he met Phyllis Ann Borgman, daughter of Alf and Alma (Meyer) Borgman. They married on November 14, 1954 in Jonesville, Indiana and enjoyed over 56 years of marriage. After the death of his beloved wife Phyllis in 2011, he married Melinda Engelking on December 23, 2013 in Columbus. He is survived by his wife and children Ken II of Waymansville, Ann Gaff (Nate) of Bloomfield, IA, John (Tracy) of Columbus, and Alice Johnson (Rick) of Columbus. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Karsten, Kristen, Kristen, Megan, John, Charlie, Sam, Katie, Sarah, Annie, and Ricky, and great grandsons, Soren and Isaac. He is also survived by Melinda’s children John Prohaska (Charlotte), Melissa Fairbanks (John), and Ellen Brunner (Bryan), and Melinda’s nine grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Phyllis, brothers Russell, Howard, Wayne, and Nolen and sisters, Daisy Catherine, Eleanor, and Eloise.
Memorial contributions may be made to the First Lutheran Church Foundation or Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.
Visitation will be on Thursday, November 29th from 4:00 P.M to 8:00 P.M. at Myers-Reed Funeral Home at 3729 E. 25th Street. Funeral Services will be conducted at First Lutheran Church on Friday, November 30th at 11:00 A.M. with Pastor Larry Isbell officiating. Friends may also call from 10:00 A.M to the time of service. Inurnment will be held at Garland Brook Cemetery immediately following the funeral service.
