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Obituary for Ken Louis Richardson
Ken Louis Richardson was born on January 24, 1938 and was the first baby born in St. Mary’s Hospital in Enid, OK. He was the son of Dr. Thomas and Loraine Richardson and brother of Tom.
Ken graduated from Taft Elementary, Emerson Junior High, and Enid High School before attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was the president of the local chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. After graduating from MIT in May 1960 as a Mechanical Engineer, he immediately started work at the Martin Company in Baltimore, MD and began his work on a sophisticated level of classified parts of the national missile defense, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
On December 29, 1960 Ken married his college sweetheart and love of his life Frances Zea. During their 60 years together they enjoyed their life in Colorado, travelled extensively, raised three children: Lynn (husband Tony), Laurie, and Steve (wife Jennie), and became the proud grandparents of Colleen (husband Dave), Adam, Kyle (wife Ella), Hailey, Justin and great-grandparents of Charlotte.
In 1967 Ken began his distinguished career in engineering at the Watertown Facility of Martin Marietta in Littleton, CO. While there he worked on programs including the Viking Mars Lander and then moved into classified programs including planetary/civilian space programs, earth orbit research programs, and his most enjoyable Spacecraft Charging at High Altitudes (SCATHA).
After retiring in February 1995 from Martin Marietta, Fran and Ken moved to Monument, CO, where he continued to travel, concentrate on his model ship building, and spend time with his family.
On September 16, 2021 Ken passed away peacefully and painlessly with loving family members by his side.
