M. Kenneth La Morder, 85, of Lillian St., Greenfield died in Baystate Franklin Medical Center on November 15, 2013 following a long period of failing health.
Born July 31, 1928 in Randolph, VT, he and his parents, Homer and Verla La Morder moved to Greenfield in the early 1940s. Ken graduated Greenfield High School in 1946 and immediately entered the service, first in the Navy and then the U.S. Marine Corps. Discharged in June of 1949, he had served as a psychiatric aide and a Hospital Corpsman, Third Class, USN.
Following his discharge, he studied at Boston College, receiving a BS in Chemistry as well as becoming a Certified Laboratory Technician and X-ray Technician. He was hired by the Federal government to work in the new X-ray department of the Army facility in Parsons, KS. Their new facility was not built according to specifications and the first time the machines were turned on, Ken was irradiated by a million volts of electricity, ending that career. He then worked with a laboratory on Long Island before being hired as a field representative for AAA of New York, in charge of stations in outer NYC. It was there he met his first wife, Loraine Larghi, the mother of his three children: Peter of Mesa, AZ, Holly Taylor, Lubbock, TX, and Jean Berson, Edgewood, NM.
While working at AAA, he studied at NYU, receiving an MBA degree, prior to moving his family back to Randolph, Vermont, to become Superintendent of the rough mill for the Ethan Allan Furniture Company.
In the early 1980s, he moved his family to the southwest where his son was a student at Eastern New Mexico University. Shortly after working as an executive for a lumber/furniture company, he was asked by then Gov. Tony Anayo to draw up plans to have a working industrial program in the New Mexico Prison System. While a small start, the original 500-page plan Ken designed became the Prison Industries Program of the Correctional Industries which also maintained that all persons be offered the opportunity to further their education within the boundaries of the prison system itself. Because of that program, the prisons in New Mexico are totally self-supporting. He retired from the New Mexico program as Deputy Director of Prison Industries, Department of Corrections.
Gov. Anayo named Ken his Aide De Camp, a position he held until the retirement of that governor.
The Arizona Correctional System wanted to duplicate the program and Ken was hired to train that system in the NM program. However, in Ken's words, "Arizona was still in the 19th century and it would never work." He left that position at a time when his health became tenuous.
Ken spent many decades researching the family name, making use of heraldry in the UK and data from Vatican files. He traced La Mordre back to their Barony in Cambraisis, France, 12th Century. The hundreds of pages formed a book which he forwarded to his children.
He returned to Greenfield in 1995 to join his high school sweetheart, Phyllis O'Hara, whom he met in October 1944 and stayed with until 1946 when separated by her parents. They did not see each other again until she picked him up at Bradley International in March of 1995. They remained together for the reminder of his life, constant companions.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis O'Hara, his three children and five grandchildren, Danielle and Wayne La Morder and Joshua Berson, as well as James and Charles Taylor. He is also survived by his stepchildren Brennan (Karen) McGuane, Erin (Robert) Lynch and Brendan and Molly Lynch, Dr. Colleen McGuane and her partner Lincoln Bitar, and Garrett (Ellen) McGuane, Rowan McGuane as well as Emma and Sam Knight, children of Ellen McGuane.
Ken was greatly indebted to his physician, Dr. Barry Poret, whom he considered to be a close friend and an "almost son."
Cremation followed his death, and at his request, there will be no services.
Kostanski Funeral Home of Greenfield is in charge of arrangements.
Sympathy messages available at www.kostanskifuneralhome.com.
Born July 31, 1928 in Randolph, VT, he and his parents, Homer and Verla La Morder moved to Greenfield in the early 1940s. Ken graduated Greenfield High School in 1946 and immediately entered the service, first in the Navy and then the U.S. Marine Corps. Discharged in June of 1949, he had served as a psychiatric aide and a Hospital Corpsman, Third Class, USN.
Following his discharge, he studied at Boston College, receiving a BS in Chemistry as well as becoming a Certified Laboratory Technician and X-ray Technician. He was hired by the Federal government to work in the new X-ray department of the Army facility in Parsons, KS. Their new facility was not built according to specifications and the first time the machines were turned on, Ken was irradiated by a million volts of electricity, ending that career. He then worked with a laboratory on Long Island before being hired as a field representative for AAA of New York, in charge of stations in outer NYC. It was there he met his first wife, Loraine Larghi, the mother of his three children: Peter of Mesa, AZ, Holly Taylor, Lubbock, TX, and Jean Berson, Edgewood, NM.
While working at AAA, he studied at NYU, receiving an MBA degree, prior to moving his family back to Randolph, Vermont, to become Superintendent of the rough mill for the Ethan Allan Furniture Company.
In the early 1980s, he moved his family to the southwest where his son was a student at Eastern New Mexico University. Shortly after working as an executive for a lumber/furniture company, he was asked by then Gov. Tony Anayo to draw up plans to have a working industrial program in the New Mexico Prison System. While a small start, the original 500-page plan Ken designed became the Prison Industries Program of the Correctional Industries which also maintained that all persons be offered the opportunity to further their education within the boundaries of the prison system itself. Because of that program, the prisons in New Mexico are totally self-supporting. He retired from the New Mexico program as Deputy Director of Prison Industries, Department of Corrections.
Gov. Anayo named Ken his Aide De Camp, a position he held until the retirement of that governor.
The Arizona Correctional System wanted to duplicate the program and Ken was hired to train that system in the NM program. However, in Ken's words, "Arizona was still in the 19th century and it would never work." He left that position at a time when his health became tenuous.
Ken spent many decades researching the family name, making use of heraldry in the UK and data from Vatican files. He traced La Mordre back to their Barony in Cambraisis, France, 12th Century. The hundreds of pages formed a book which he forwarded to his children.
He returned to Greenfield in 1995 to join his high school sweetheart, Phyllis O'Hara, whom he met in October 1944 and stayed with until 1946 when separated by her parents. They did not see each other again until she picked him up at Bradley International in March of 1995. They remained together for the reminder of his life, constant companions.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis O'Hara, his three children and five grandchildren, Danielle and Wayne La Morder and Joshua Berson, as well as James and Charles Taylor. He is also survived by his stepchildren Brennan (Karen) McGuane, Erin (Robert) Lynch and Brendan and Molly Lynch, Dr. Colleen McGuane and her partner Lincoln Bitar, and Garrett (Ellen) McGuane, Rowan McGuane as well as Emma and Sam Knight, children of Ellen McGuane.
Ken was greatly indebted to his physician, Dr. Barry Poret, whom he considered to be a close friend and an "almost son."
Cremation followed his death, and at his request, there will be no services.
Kostanski Funeral Home of Greenfield is in charge of arrangements.
Sympathy messages available at www.kostanskifuneralhome.com.
M. Kenneth La Morder, 85, of Lillian St., Greenfield died in Baystate Franklin Medical Center on November 15, 2013 following a long period of failing health.
Born July 31, 1928 in Randolph, VT, he and his parents, Homer and Verla La Morder moved to Greenfield in the early 1940s. Ken graduated Greenfield High School in 1946 and immediately entered the service, first in the Navy and then the U.S. Marine Corps. Discharged in June of 1949, he had served as a psychiatric aide and a Hospital Corpsman, Third Class, USN.
Following his discharge, he studied at Boston College, receiving a BS in Chemistry as well as becoming a Certified Laboratory Technician and X-ray Technician. He was hired by the Federal government to work in the new X-ray department of the Army facility in Parsons, KS. Their new facility was not built according to specifications and the first time the machines were turned on, Ken was irradiated by a million volts of electricity, ending that career. He then worked with a laboratory on Long Island before being hired as a field representative for AAA of New York, in charge of stations in outer NYC. It was there he met his first wife, Loraine Larghi, the mother of his three children: Peter of Mesa, AZ, Holly Taylor, Lubbock, TX, and Jean Berson, Edgewood, NM.
While working at AAA, he studied at NYU, receiving an MBA degree, prior to moving his family back to Randolph, Vermont, to become Superintendent of the rough mill for the Ethan Allan Furniture Company.
In the early 1980s, he moved his family to the southwest where his son was a student at Eastern New Mexico University. Shortly after working as an executive for a lumber/furniture company, he was asked by then Gov. Tony Anayo to draw up plans to have a working industrial program in the New Mexico Prison System. While a small start, the original 500-page plan Ken designed became the Prison Industries Program of the Correctional Industries which also maintained that all persons be offered the opportunity to further their education within the boundaries of the prison system itself. Because of that program, the prisons in New Mexico are totally self-supporting. He retired from the New Mexico program as Deputy Director of Prison Industries, Department of Corrections.
Gov. Anayo named Ken his Aide De Camp, a position he held until the retirement of that governor.
The Arizona Correctional System wanted to duplicate the program and Ken was hired to train that system in the NM program. However, in Ken's words, "Arizona was still in the 19th century and it would never work." He left that position at a time when his health became tenuous.
Ken spent many decades researching the family name, making use of heraldry in the UK and data from Vatican files. He traced La Mordre back to their Barony in Cambraisis, France, 12th Century. The hundreds of pages formed a book which he forwarded to his children.
He returned to Greenfield in 1995 to join his high school sweetheart, Phyllis O'Hara, whom he met in October 1944 and stayed with until 1946 when separated by her parents. They did not see each other again until she picked him up at Bradley International in March of 1995. They remained together for the reminder of his life, constant companions.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis O'Hara, his three children and five grandchildren, Danielle and Wayne La Morder and Joshua Berson, as well as James and Charles Taylor. He is also survived by his stepchildren Brennan (Karen) McGuane, Erin (Robert) Lynch and Brendan and Molly Lynch, Dr. Colleen McGuane and her partner Lincoln Bitar, and Garrett (Ellen) McGuane, Rowan McGuane as well as Emma and Sam Knight, children of Ellen McGuane.
Ken was greatly indebted to his physician, Dr. Barry Poret, whom he considered to be a close friend and an "almost son."
Cremation followed his death, and at his request, there will be no services.
Kostanski Funeral Home of Greenfield is in charge of arrangements.
Sympathy messages available at www.kostanskifuneralhome.com.
Born July 31, 1928 in Randolph, VT, he and his parents, Homer and Verla La Morder moved to Greenfield in the early 1940s. Ken graduated Greenfield High School in 1946 and immediately entered the service, first in the Navy and then the U.S. Marine Corps. Discharged in June of 1949, he had served as a psychiatric aide and a Hospital Corpsman, Third Class, USN.
Following his discharge, he studied at Boston College, receiving a BS in Chemistry as well as becoming a Certified Laboratory Technician and X-ray Technician. He was hired by the Federal government to work in the new X-ray department of the Army facility in Parsons, KS. Their new facility was not built according to specifications and the first time the machines were turned on, Ken was irradiated by a million volts of electricity, ending that career. He then worked with a laboratory on Long Island before being hired as a field representative for AAA of New York, in charge of stations in outer NYC. It was there he met his first wife, Loraine Larghi, the mother of his three children: Peter of Mesa, AZ, Holly Taylor, Lubbock, TX, and Jean Berson, Edgewood, NM.
While working at AAA, he studied at NYU, receiving an MBA degree, prior to moving his family back to Randolph, Vermont, to become Superintendent of the rough mill for the Ethan Allan Furniture Company.
In the early 1980s, he moved his family to the southwest where his son was a student at Eastern New Mexico University. Shortly after working as an executive for a lumber/furniture company, he was asked by then Gov. Tony Anayo to draw up plans to have a working industrial program in the New Mexico Prison System. While a small start, the original 500-page plan Ken designed became the Prison Industries Program of the Correctional Industries which also maintained that all persons be offered the opportunity to further their education within the boundaries of the prison system itself. Because of that program, the prisons in New Mexico are totally self-supporting. He retired from the New Mexico program as Deputy Director of Prison Industries, Department of Corrections.
Gov. Anayo named Ken his Aide De Camp, a position he held until the retirement of that governor.
The Arizona Correctional System wanted to duplicate the program and Ken was hired to train that system in the NM program. However, in Ken's words, "Arizona was still in the 19th century and it would never work." He left that position at a time when his health became tenuous.
Ken spent many decades researching the family name, making use of heraldry in the UK and data from Vatican files. He traced La Mordre back to their Barony in Cambraisis, France, 12th Century. The hundreds of pages formed a book which he forwarded to his children.
He returned to Greenfield in 1995 to join his high school sweetheart, Phyllis O'Hara, whom he met in October 1944 and stayed with until 1946 when separated by her parents. They did not see each other again until she picked him up at Bradley International in March of 1995. They remained together for the reminder of his life, constant companions.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis O'Hara, his three children and five grandchildren, Danielle and Wayne La Morder and Joshua Berson, as well as James and Charles Taylor. He is also survived by his stepchildren Brennan (Karen) McGuane, Erin (Robert) Lynch and Brendan and Molly Lynch, Dr. Colleen McGuane and her partner Lincoln Bitar, and Garrett (Ellen) McGuane, Rowan McGuane as well as Emma and Sam Knight, children of Ellen McGuane.
Ken was greatly indebted to his physician, Dr. Barry Poret, whom he considered to be a close friend and an "almost son."
Cremation followed his death, and at his request, there will be no services.
Kostanski Funeral Home of Greenfield is in charge of arrangements.
Sympathy messages available at www.kostanskifuneralhome.com.
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