Kenneth Harold Carr

Kenneth Harold Carr, born in Columbus, OH 11/23/1944, passed away in Portland on 9/2/2026 at age 81. Soft spoken and steadfast, he was a dedicated husband and father. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Nancy Joy Carr; his children Kim Loring (Lindsay), Amy Erstellen, and Brian Carr; grandchildren Justin Rea (Mary), Adair Emmons, Jove Emmons, Alan Rea, Dugan Emmons; and one great granddaughter, Lennon Rea.

Ken grew up in Dublin, OH the oldest of 4 siblings, James, Jeanne, and Bruce. He attended area schools and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He studied at The Ohio State University, where he met Joy Noecker, his wife to be; they were married on June 24, 1967. Ken joined the Air Force in 1964 where he continued his education, studying technology and computers. After the AF, Ken took a job with MeasureX, where he programmed computers that were used to run equipment in paper mills. Ken retired in 2000 at age 55.

Ken and Joy's first daughter, Kim was born in 1971 while they were living in Syracuse, NY. After relocating to Portland, Maine, where they have lived since, their second daughter, Amy, was born in 1975. In 1985, Brian was born and completed the family. Ken enjoyed family outings and activities such as family camping at Calumet, bike rides and walks around the neighborhood, and picnic dinners on the rocks at Two Lights state park. Summertime meant annual family road trips to visit relatives in Ohio. And every autumn we would go pick apples, which dad would peel for pies and crisp while watching football on TV. Saturday was reliably pizza night, Sunday evening meant popcorn, and grandma’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies were a longtime favorite.

Ken was very active at First Lutheran Church over the years. He served as treasurer, financial secretary, and newsletter editor, in addition to operating and maintaining audio/visual equipment for worship. Using his work experience, he also kept the computers and phone systems in working order. Volunteering was very important to Ken, and the running joke was that he lived at church. It was through the church that the family found their close circle of friends who surrounded and supported each other through life’s events, big and small. We have many happy memories of holidays, birthdays, and weddings spent with this chosen family.

Services will be held at First Lutheran Church, 132 Auburn St, Portland ME on Saturday September 12th at 10am, reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to First Lutheran for their audio visual ministries.