Lt. Col. (ret.) Kenneth M. Ford, 90, passed away July 30, 2009 in Albuquerque, N.M. Previously he was a 25-year resident of Oak Harbor, when in 1998 he met Nicky Paul, who became his companion and caretaker. She provided all the personal information for his obituary. He moved into Regency on Whidbey in March 2007, and left in September 2008.

Ken was a Marine Corps fighter pilot in the Pacific during World War II, surviving 65 contacts with the enemy. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944 for being credited with shooting down two Japanese Zeros. That brought his total up to five, then scored six “probables,” thus making him an air Ace. At that time he was a member of VMF-121, and all members of that squadron were able to wear the Presidential Citation, which accompanied the Distinguished Flying Cross award.

Ken later served in the Korean conflict with HMF-111, and in 1952 received the Air Medal for “Meritorious Achievement in Aerial Flight.” He was born in Izmir, Turkey, where his father, W.W. Ford (a member of the famous Ford Company Family) was an American businessman there. He grew up in Whittier, Calif., graduating from Pasadena Junior College, and was commissioned in 1942.

Ken was an active member of Whidbey Island Chapter, Military Officers Association of America. His first wife, Virginia Nelson, died in Oak Harbor in 1976. Ken’s ashes will be dropped near hers in Cape Flattery, Puget Sound. Two subsequent marriages ended in divorce. Ken in survived by a daughter, Sandra Harder of Albuquerque.