Ken died on June 10, 2023. He is survived by his four children, Eric (Alisa) Penttila (with grandson Gavin) of Seattle, WA, Steven Penttila of Minneapolis, MN, Kristina Nairn (with grandchildren Cai and Reid) of Wind Point, WI, and Kevin (Angie) (with grandson Austin and granddaughters, Lucy and Evelyn) of Inver Grove Hts, MN; his dear friend, Helen Ellingsworth; and his brother, William, of Billings, MT. His wife, Jerralee, preceded him in death in 2011 and grandson, Joel in 2022.
Ken was born in Billings, Montana and grew up in the hills and mountains of Southern Montana. He attended Montana State University, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He retired from 3M Company in 1997 after heading 3M’s only advanced automatic assembly engineering department.
He served in the US Army for 34 years, both active Army and US Army Reserve, reaching the rank of Brigadier General holding commands of the 353rd Transportation Company (Buffalo, MN), 457th Transportation Battalion (Ft. Snelling, MN), 19th CMMC (Arden Hills, MN) and 334th MCC (Ft. Sheridan, IL). He graduated from the US Army War College in 1994 and was inducted into both the US Army Transportation Corps Hall of Fame and the Infantry Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.
Memorial Service 12 noon Saturday, June 24th at Roberts Funeral Home, 8108 Barbara Ave., Inver Grove Hts. and will be livestreamed at https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/6198928659. Visitation 10 am-12 noon prior to the service.
A Memorial Service will be held 1:30 pm on Tuesday, August 29th, 2023 at First Alliance Church, 1835 Central Ave, Billings MT 59102. Burial will be immediately to follow at Sunset Memorial Cemetery, Billings, MT.
The family has requested memorial donations be sent to the Armed Forces Services Center Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, in lieu of flowers, to help his fellow soldiers. https://www.mnafsc.org/donations.