Kenneth L. Loge

On May 9, 2015, Ken Loge peacefully passed into the presence of his Savior, four months shy of his 100th birthday. He was born on September 17, 1915 to Swen and Lisa Loge and raised on a farm in North Dakota, the oldest of five boys. He gave his life to Christ at the age of 10 at a summer camp, and as he liked to put it, God gave him a very long and interesting life. After graduating from high school, Ken became a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse and fell in love with a beautiful woman named Marian.

Then came the draft; he found himself on the way to boot camp, and it wasn't until later, when he was stationed in Boise, Idaho, that his bride Marian was able to take a train out and they were married in a small ceremony by a pastor they had only just met, witnessed by the pastor’s wife and some new neighbors. Marian returned home while Ken went on to serve in New Caledonia, an island off the Australian coast, where he would be awarded the Bronze Star “for the performance of meritorious service from 18 March 1942 to 10 March 1944 as a member of the first troops which arrived at an advanced South Pacific Island base endangered by Japanese invasion and for outstanding and faithful service in the Headquarters of the Commanding General of the South Pacific Area.” Thanks to his clerical skills, he was pulled to office duty while the rest of his platoon was sent to Guadalcanal, where most of them were killed in combat. Between that and the Battle of the Coral Sea keeping the Japanese away from their base in New Caledonia, God clearly protected him for a very long and interesting life. Ken would later serve in France and Germany, and he rode through Paris on a tank, surrounded by jubilant crowds celebrating the Allied Forces’ victory.

Following his four years, five months and seventeen days serving in the war, he returned to the US, where he got a job at a newspaper in South Dakota. That was followed by a career as a pastor in several churches in Alberta, British Columbia and Montana. While pastoring in BC, he was on the founding committee of Trinity Western University. During this time and the following years as an administrator at a nursing home in Port Townsend, WA, he and Marian raised 5 kids. He would later retire and move to Everett to Ancora Village where he resided for 30 years. While in Everett, he worked as a missions consultant with the Evangelical Free Church Mission. He dedicated his life to spreading the good news of Christ's salvation and was reaching out to youth to the very end.

He lost his wife Marian to cancer in 1989. He was also preceded in death by his parents, four younger brothers (Maynard, Melvin, Truman and Spencer), and his son Robert. Ken is survived by four daughters, Linda, Bonnie, Lois and Dori, as well as seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His family was gathered around his bed as he moved on to glory.

A memorial service will be held at 3pm on Saturday, May 23rd at United Evangelical Free Church, 1420 NW 80th St, Seattle, WA 98117.

Memorials may be made to Trinity Western University Development Office, PO Box 361, Lynden, WA 98264-0361, or online at https://www1.twu.ca/giving/donate