Personal Life:

Kenny was born on August 27, 1972 in Anchorage Alaska. Not long after he was born Kenny, Mike, and Mary moved to Medford, OR.  Medford was just one town away from many of his relatives including his Grandma Jane and Grandpa Paul.

After living in Medford, Mary and Kenny moved to Portland, OR. Over the years, beginning when he was a young boy, he learned the importance of family time together through large family gatherings. His family experiences included camping, hiking, fishing, river rafting, skiing, exploring, going to the beach, hunting, and getting into mischief with his friends, cousins and sister. All of these experiences developed Ken’s love of the outdoors and inspired the famous Rogers’ quote, “What goes on in the woods stays in the woods.” Ken enjoyed many activities over the years including crabbing, surfing, body boarding, soccer (most valuable mid fieldsman), drumming, and golf (varsity team in high school).

In the early 1980’s Ken had many life changing experiences. He and Mary moved to Beaverton, OR; Mary met and married his Stepdad Don; Mike married his Stepmom Marcia; and his sister Melissa was born. Ken loved being with his sister, Melissa. He enjoyed getting into mischief with her, pulling pranks on her, scaring her for a laugh, getting her in trouble with his Dad and Stepmom. When Melissa screamed in fright, it was a sure thing that Kenny was involved. That’s how he earned one of his many nicknames, “Ken the Kid.”

When Ken was only 4 or 5 he flew in a small aircraft from Vancouver, WA to Grants Pass, OR, with a flight instructor friend of Mary’s and their Beagle puppy. The flight completely fascinated Kenny.

One year while camping honorary “Captain” Kenneth Rogers was manning the good ship, “SS Minnow” at Bumping Lake in Washington. While on the lake, A-6’s flew over the fishing boat, and scared everyone on board. They flew so low that the noise was deafening. Ken immediately declared, “Dad I am going to do that someday.” That was yet another indication of his lifelong dream to be a pilot.

When Kenny was 10 or 11 Mary won a flight lesson as part of an auction. It was clear by this point that Kenny’s dream was to fly so Mary surprised him by giving him the lesson. After that there was no going back. False beams even had to be built and installed in Kenny’s room to accommodate all of his airplane models.

He eventually donated his airplane collection to the Tillamook Air Museum. Kenny’s hero was Grandpa Paul Rogers, a WWII B-17 and B- 29 pilot who shared his many experiences with Kenny in the garage at his home in Grants Pass, OR.  Those stories only fueled Ken’s love of anything dealing with flight.

Growing up Kenny was well loved by his family and by those he met. He was lucky enough to not have just two parents, but four, each of whom taught him lessons that he carried throughout life. Each of his parents contributed to the person he became, instilling in him the importance of education, hard work, and kindness. Mary taught him life is about the choices you make, and that if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything. Don taught him to look at how things worked, to see the patterns in the design, and taught him through example building their home from the ground up that hard work pays off in spades. Mike taught him to dream bigger, to set his goals higher, because his generation was going to reach for the stars. Marcia taught him patience, as she frequently smoothed out the chaos his antics caused.

By middle school Kenny was spending every weekend possible at the beach in Oregon, building a house with Mary and Don. He spent countless hours running around and fishing with his best friends and cousins, and was able to live just a few doors down from his Grandma Jessie and Grandpa Alex. When Kenny turned 14, they moved to Lincoln City, and Kenny finally was able to live at the beach, not just visit.

He attended high school at Taft High School.  Prior to his senior year of high school Kenny decided he needed to explore and was given the opportunity to spend a year as an exchange student in Australia, on the condition that he repeat his senior year of high school. He jumped at the chance. While in Australia he joined powerless gliding club and went on his first solo glider ride. He also came back with a great accent.

Kenny graduated high school in 1991 and following in his father's footsteps, Kenny attended the University of Washington. Kenny knew he wanted to be a part of something larger. He initially joined the Air Force ROTC, but in doing more research found Navy ROTC was where he wanted to be. He also rushed and joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. Kenny made lifelong friends through both fraternal organizations and even met his wife Crystal when she visited the frat house with a friend during his senior year.

Summers during college were a chance to spend time down in Grants Pass, OR with his Grandma Jane and Grandpa Paul. One year he signed up to fight fires down there. That summer the forest fires were particularly mild so he instead dug ditches at his uncle's home with his cousins when they weren’t rafting the Rogue River. Another summer was spent working at the Salishan Golf Links and getting free time on the golf course.  During his last summer in college he remained in Seattle, worked at the Frat house, and continued his flight lessons. He was able to fly some multi-engine airplanes and earned his private pilot’s license that summer.

In 1995 Kenny graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in History. From Washington, Kenny spent time in Pensacola, FL and San Antonio, TX, earning his commission and attending flight school. Crystal and Ken continued their relationship over the long distance, with letters, calls, and visits by Crystal as frequently as possible.

Kenny earned his Wings of Gold in June 1997 and not long after he was stationed at Lemoore Naval Air Station, near Hanford, CA. By then Crystal had finished her degree at the University of Washington and she moved down to be with him in Hanford. They were finally able to live together and after living in an apartment briefly, they were able to create a home where everyone felt welcome. Backyard barbecues and summer trips to Lake Shasta became the new norm.

During his first tour of duty Ken asked Crystal to marry him. The two married in Nevada on October 20, 2001 and on July 4, 2002 they had a ceremony and reception at Shilshole Bay, in Ballard, WA surrounded by their closest friends and family. 

2007 was an eventful year for Kenny, he received his MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School, and in June he became a father. Fletcher was born June 27, 2007 and in his own words, nothing in his life would ever be the same. 

After having a child Kenny began truly planning for the future, and his life beyond flying F/A-18's. He and Crystal decided that it was time to live abroad and experience more of the world, all the while exposing Fletcher to new cultures, new languages, and new people. Kenny took a position with NATO near Lisbon, Portugal, and the entire family, including their dog Shasta, made the move. Kenny was able to use his degree in the positions he took with NATO. He also began taking commercial flying lessons, planning ahead to a time outside of the Navy.

Living in Portugal opened up the world to Fletcher and Kenny took pride and pleasure in not only showing the world to him, but teaching Fletcher the same things he enjoyed as a child, fishing, surfing at the beach near their home, playing with legos, and spending time with family. Kenny even passed on his daredevil spirit to Fletcher. Nothing made Kenny happier than spending time with Fletcher or talking about his latest adventure.

Military Service:

He earned his wings of gold in June of 1997 and had a highly successful aviation career flying F/A-18 Hornets with squadrons VFA-113, VFA-125, and VFA-151. Deploying from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) he flew missions in support of Operations SOUTHERN WATCH (OSW), IRAQUI FREEDOM (OIF), and ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) over Afghanistan. Highly qualified to fly, flight, and lead from both the air and on deck Kenny was chosen to be a Landing Signal Officer, Safety Officer, Instructor Pilot, and both Maintenance and Operations Department Head. As a squadron Department Head he directly contributed to the selection of VFA-151 for the highly prestigious and competitive Battle Excellence, or "Battle E" award.

Since 2009, Kenny served with the NATO Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Center (JALLC) in Lisbon, Portugal overseeing the deployment of staff and analysis teams to Afghanistan, in Iraq as the Deputy Navy Section Lead and Lead Foreign Military Sales Officer in Baghdad, and was chosen to lead over 300 contract, military and U.S. Government personnel at the Umm Qasr Contingency Operations Base. In 2013, Kenny returned to Portugal to join Naval Striking and Support Forces, NATO where he served as the Maritime Strike Planner.

Kenny's personal awards include two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, two Air Medals (strike), one Joint Commendation Medal, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, four Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and numerous campaign and service ribbons.

Legacy:

Kenny was loved by all those whose lives he touched. He had a quick wit, a ready laugh, a willingness to help out friends and even strangers, and endless patience as a father. He is survived by his wife Crystal, his son Fletcher, his mother Mary, his father Mike, his Stepmother Marcia, his sister Melissa, his Stepsisters Aline and Robin, his Stepbrother Bob and his extended family and worldwide network of friends.