Kenneth B. Kingston, 82

Kenneth B. Kingston, 82, passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, 2009, at the Sandpoint Christian Center on N. Boyer Avenue in Sandpoint with Pastor Wesley Ribeiro officiating.

Ken was born on Sept. 15, 1926, in Grand Island, Neb., to James “Willis” and Violet Kingston. In 1929 the Kingstons left Nebraska for Seattle, Wash., where Willis found employment with the Boeing Aircraft Company.

Ken grew up in Seattle with his older sister Betty and younger sister Sylvia. He attended Renton High School and in 1943 while still finishing his senior year he began working for Boeing helping to build B-17 bombers.

Near the end of World War II Ken was drafted into the U.S. Army and became a paratrooper. His unit was sent to the South Pacific; first to the Philippine islands where pockets of Japanese soldiers were still fighting and later to the islands of Japan.

Upon his honorable, discharge from the Army Ken returned to Boeing and soon became a supervisor. In 1950 he married Margaret McDonald who also worked at Boeing. In a few years they had two children; a daughter Cindy and a son James (Jim).

In 1960, Ken and his new family left Washington moving to Florida. Here Boeing was supporting the Mercury Space Program which was striving to win the “space race” by sending a U.S. Astronaut into space ahead of the Russians. Over the next six years Ken worked his way up into higher management positions ensuring focus on the critical elements of Boeing programs that put the first man into space, upgraded the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile systems and built the massive Saturn V rocket which would eventually power the Apollo missions that put men on the moon.

In 1967 Boeing’s plans to build the largest commercial jet aircraft ever built brought Ken and family back to the Seattle area. For the next 22 months Ken would lead over 1,500 people to do what some called impossible; assembling the first 747 Jumbo Jet at the new still under construction Everett factory. At stake was the future of the Boeing Company which had promised to build the new plane in record time and risked going broke if it took too long. The factory team that accomplished the feat was known as “The Incredibles”. Not only did they build a plane that would insure the Company stayed in business, they built a legend. Even today, getting that first 747 assembled and flying is held up as an example of “how to accomplish the impossible” at the Boeing Everett factory.

Ken once said; “If you want to get noticed, take on a big project that scares the hell out of everyone else and then whip it!”

Whether it was a tough commercial project or a big military contract, for the next 20 years Ken continued to whip one challenge after another. In 1988 he retired as the Director of the Boeing Military Modification Center at Wichita Kansas.

Ken and Margaret were divorced in 1972 and Margaret passed away in January 2009 in Washington.

Ken married Maxine Goding on Feb. 3, 1978, in Kirkland, Wash. After retiring, Ken and Maxine moved to Sandpoint, Idaho. Although Ken loved the late spring, summers and early fall Idaho weather, he was not fond of cold weather, snow or ice. Each year he was packing the RV and ready to “go south” by early October.  The last 12 winters he and Maxine “wintered” in beautiful Mesquite, Nev.

Ken was a great public speaker, he loved to see people laugh and smile and he could tell a good joke. He became close to his brother-in-law, David W. Goding, who also worked in management at Boeing. Ken hosted David’s 50th birthday and retirement party, and for the entertainment portion of the party Ken imitated Foster Brooks.

After he became a born again Christian, he didn’t hesitate for a moment to tell others about Jesus. He is a member of the Sandpoint Christian Center, and Full Gospel Businessman’s Organization. He enjoyed carpentry and building things, fixing up old cars and tractors, and taking care of his yard.

He is survived by his loving wife of 31 years, Maxine Kingston of Sandpoint; three children, Jim Kingston of Redmond, Wash., Cindy Kingston Mannhalter of Titusville, Fla., and Tim Hulsey of Renton, Wash.; and four grandchildren and a great-grandson.

He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Betty and Sylvia; and stepson Rodney Hulsey.

Lakeview Funeral Home in Sandpoint is handling the arrangements. Please visit Ken’s online memorial at www.lakeviewfuneral.com and sign his guest book.