John Ken Kenneth Boughamer

John Kenneth (“Ken”) Boughamer was born in Verona, Pennsylvania, on July 25, 1914, to Mabel Long Boughamer and John Henry Boughamer. Ken had five brothers and sisters: Alberta, Irma, Percival, Raymond (“Bun”), and Gladys. John Henry, Lockmaster on the Allegheny River, and Mabel were tolerant parents, and their home became a meeting place for the neighborhood children. Although the Boughamer’s were not a wealthy family, they enjoyed a few luxuries, such as their beloved player piano. The children had fun making their own toys from whatever scraps they could find in the basement of the abandoned church next door. Ken spent one happy summer building a roller coaster in the backyard.

After graduating from high school Ken went to work for the A&P Tea Company and met his future wife, Jane Deeds, on a blind date. Ken and Jane were married in 1941. After the start of World War II, Ken joined the army and was stationed on Tinian in the South Pacific as a member of the 77th Air Service Group. Ken achieved the rank of sergeant before his discharge in 1946, when he was reunited with his wife after two long years of separation. Ken and Jane had two daughters, Betsy and Nancy, born in 1951 and 1953. After working as a salesman for Gulf Oil for many years, in 1956 Ken moved his family to St. Petersburg, Florida, where his parents had moved the year before.

In Florida Ken managed a Gulf service station and then worked for the City of St. Petersburg until his retirement. Ken loved the warmth of the Florida sun, and although it was difficult to grow a garden in the sandy soil, Ken always had beautiful tropical flowers and citrus trees that he nurtured with care. One year he even grew pineapples.

Ken had a talent for fixing things and learning how things work. He repaired everything and built many things from wood – bookshelves, wall shelves, desk, etc. He enjoyed having a space in his garage to “tinker” and organize his many tools.

After his retirement Ken and Jane moved to Spring Hill, Florida, and were active in the Mariner Methodist Church, where they had many friends. They kept busy with volunteer work through their church and at a local nursing home. Six years ago, Ken and Jane moved to Oregon to be closer to their daughter Nancy. Ken and Jane lived at the Pacific Pointe Retirement Inn until their deaths, Jane’s in 2012 and Ken’s in 2013. If Jane had lived another year, they would have celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary in August of this year. Always active in the life at Pacific Pointe, Ken and Jane loved, and were loved by, residents and staff.

Ken is survived by his daughters, Betsy Forrest and Nancy Rollins, his niece and nephew, Susan and Scott Deichmiller, and several Boughamer nieces and nephews: Paige and Linn, Joyce and Janice, Maureen and Marilyn.