Colonel Kenneth Boyd Knowles July 9, 1929 – January 10, 2019 Colonel Kenneth Boyd Knowles, USAF retired, passed away on January 10, 2019, in Dallas Texas, from kidney failure. Ken (known as Boyd to his family) was born on July 9, 1929 in Ogden, Utah, the first of 7 children of Kenneth Baugh and Helen Pearce Knowles. Following his graduation from Weber State College, he was called to serve on a mission in New York and Pennsylvania for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
His missionary companions during those two years became life-long friends. Shortly after his return to Ogden in 1951 he married his wife of 58 years, Clara Lou Beers. He earned Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctor degrees at the University of Utah, and in 1956 was called to active duty in the U.S. Air Force as a legal officer, serving until his retirement in 1985.
He served as a senior trial attorney representing the Air Force in contract cases against major defense contractors; was director of procurement law in charge of providing legal services for the design, development, testing and acquisition of all Air Force aircraft and related systems; director of military justice for the USAF in Europe, and finally, as general counsel of the worldwide Army and Air Force Exchange Service in Dallas. Ken and Lou loved classical music, opera and art and regularly attended concerts and productions and visited museums everywhere they lived. He loved woodworking and was an all-around handyman.
After his retirement he took on the challenge of building a 2-manual harpsichord, which he later donated to the Irving Arts Center in Irving, Texas. A man of strong faith, he held a variety of positions in the LDS church and, with Lou, served an 18 month mission at the LDS historical sites in Kirtland, Ohio. He was a kind and generous man who never hesitated to help others.
He was deeply devoted to his family. He is survived by his wife, Julie, whom he married in 2011, daughter Kathryn Knowles and son-in-law, Ed Darrell of Dallas, Texas, grandson Kenneth Darrell of Brooklyn, NY, grandson James Darrell and his wife, Xiang Li of Denver, CO, brothers Michael Knowles and wife Peggy, of Phoenix, AZ, Darrell Knowles and wife Cindy of Salt Lake City, UT, and sister Kathryn Trulson of Bountiful, UT, and many other relatives and friends. Funeral services are at 11:00 am, Saturday, January 19, 2019, at Myers Mortuary, 845 Washington Blvd, Ogden, Utah.
Family and friends may call from 9:40 to 10:40 am before the service. Interment will follow in the Hyrum City Cemetery, Hyrum, Utah.
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