Kenneth R. Williams

Kenneth Roger Williams died on Saturday, November 4, 2017, at Brandywine Living at Longwood in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Bertha and Culver Williams and was born in New York City on August 23, 1922. He and his parents moved to Teaneck, New Jersey when he was a boy and he graduated from high school there.

Ken was a student at Columbia University in New York City when he chose to enlist in the Army to fight in World War II. He was part of the Army Signal Corps in Europe and when the war there ended he was reassigned to Japan. He was on a troop ship to Japan when peace was declared. He finished his military service in Occupied Japan. Ken returned to Columbia University and completed his chemistry undergraduate and physics graduate degrees after the war. It was there that he met his future wife, Ardis Paul, who predeceased him in 2008 after 61 years of marriage.

Ken worked his entire professional career with the Textile Fibers Department of the DuPont Company in industrial end-use research. He started in Buffalo, New York and quickly moved from there to Richmond, Virginia in 1947. In 1957 he and his wife and daughter moved to the Wilmington, Delaware area. He designed and built the homes for his family in Richmond and in Landenberg, Pennsylvania. Following a 43 year career with DuPont, Ken continued to do research and consult globally for several more years.

Ken was president, in the1960’s, of the New Garden Township Civic Association and a community volunteer with the Kennett Area Red Feather campaign (a precursor to the United Way). He was an avid reader of European and American history, and later in life developed an interest in reading about early man, especially Neanderthals. He enthusiastically attended classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Wilmington. Although Ken was not a photographer, he supported his wife in her passion and served in many official capacities with the Delaware Camera Club (now the Delaware Photographic Society). He developed and executed his own investment strategies and was an amateur orchardist and gardener. Ken is survived by his daughter, Evelyn Williams, of Wilmington, Delaware.

A visitation is scheduled for Tuesday, November 14, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM at Doherty Funeral Home, Pike Creek, 3200 Limestone Road, Wilmington, Delaware. A graveside service conducted by the Rev. Thomas G. Speers, III will take place at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, November 15, at the Union Hill Cemetery, 424 North Union Street, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Contributions in memory of Ken may be made to: Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Attn: Ellen M. Saienni, 2700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Arsht Hall, Wilmington, Delaware 19806 or to Penn Memory Center, Attn: Terrence Casey, 3615 Chestnut St., Room 236, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Checks for Penn Memory Center should be made out to: Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania with ADC – PMC in the memo line.

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