Kenneth W. Good

GOOD, Kenneth W.
Of Portage, MI Passed away Friday, February 20, 2009, in Kalamazoo, MI. Kenneth was born September 15, 1922 at Camp Douglas, Wisconsin. Baptized December 16, 1922 in the First Methodist Church and was confirmed on April 12, 1936 at Saint Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church in Portage, WI. He graduated in 1940 from Portage High School in Portage, WI. Enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps November 5, 1940 and was educated as an airplane maintenance technician. From tech school he was shipped to Hickam Air Field in Oahu, HI. He drew guard duty on the morning of December 7th, 1941. He started his duties that day at 6am. Approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had a first person account of the attack as he was guarding aircraft on the flight line. He spent a total of 2 years in Hawaii. From there he was shipped out to Henderson Field in Guadalcanal where he served for 13 months. He recalled being strafed by Japanese aircraft on one occasion while stationed on Guadalcanal. He was then shipped to the Admiralty Islands for a period of 2 months. After this portion of his service he returned to the United States where he was stationed at Pueblo, Colorado. He maintained the aircraft there and noted that this is where the Chinese were being taught to fly the army air corps fighters. He served for 8 months at Pueblo before being honorably discharged on May 23, 1945 at Fort Sheridan, IL with the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was awarded citations for the Guadalcanal campaign, the Northern Solomon's campaign, and the New Guinea Campaign. He was also awarded 3 bronze battle stars for the Asiatic Pacific Theatre ribbon, the American Service Ribbon with 1 battle star, 6 Overseas Service Bars, and the Good Conduct ribbon. After his military service he traveled back and forth between Michigan and California. He eventually planted roots in Kalamazoo, MI. There he met Theresa Drenth. They were married in Kalamazoo, MI and remained married for 53 years. They had 3 sons. He worked on the railroad all of his adult life at Botsford Yards in Kalamazoo, MI. The railroad went through several name changes. The New York Central, Penn Central, and Conrail. During his tenure with the railroad he performed in the capacity as a car man. He was employed with the railroad for 35years. When not working he enjoyed buying, fixing, and selling just about anything with a motor on it. He had owned several outboard motors, lawn mowers, cars, trucks, motor scooters, etc. He was also considered an above average wood worker. He refinished antique furniture and was very capable at caning chairs. Around 1970 he took a renewed interest in what he did during his military service, airplanes. He successfully attended ground school and the required flight time to acquire his private pilot's license. Over the next several years he owned 9 different airplanes, all of them Cessna's. He would go back and forth between the Cessna 150 and the Cessna 170. On one occasion he flew his airplane cross country to LaCrosse, WI to attend a high school class reunion. Later in life he took an interest in reading about philosophy, religion, and medical literature. He is survived by 3 sons, Wayne William Good of Kalamazoo, MI, William Armon Good Renda his wife of Evanston, MD, and Ward Kenneth Good of Wyoming, MI; a brother, Frank Good of Vicksburg, MI; a sister, Lorraine Benedict of Orangevale, CA; grandchildren, Jason Alan Good of Seattle, WA, and Tracy Good of Otsego, MI; 2 great grandchildren, Garrett age 3 and Riley 6 months. The family will receive friends on Monday from 6-8 PM and Tuesday from 2-4 and 6-8 PM at the Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Portage Chapel, 411 E. Centre Ave. where Funeral Services will be held 10:30 AM Wednesday. Interment with full military honors will follow in Ft. Custer National Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to Hospice Care of SW Michigan; American Cancer Society; Kidney Foundation or American Diabetes. www.langelands.com