Remembering Kenneth Westby
Kenneth L. Westby, retired associate professor of management, East Grand Forks, passed away on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013 at Valley Eldercare Center in Grand Forks. He was 81.
Services are scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Dahl Funeral Home in East Grand Forks. Visitation will be from 5 – 7 p.m. and a memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Internment will be in Resurrection Cemetery, East Grand Forks.
Kenneth L. Westby was born Sept. 12, 1931 to Olaf and Madeline (Grimord) Westby, in Iron Mountain, Mich. He was raised in Kingsford, Mich., and attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 1954. He entered the U.S. Air Force as a Reserve Second Lieutenant. He later earned a regular commission and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1974. During those years he was stationed at Long Island, N.Y.; Tripoli, Libya; Bangor, Maine; Wichita Falls, Texas; Tucson, Az.; Montgomery, Ala.; Washington D.C.; Fort Ritchie, Md.; Saigon, Vietnam; and Grand Forks. While on active duty, Ken earned a master’s degree from the George Washington University.
He taught in the College of Business and Public Administration from 1977 to 1994. While primarily assigned to the management department, Ken also worked on and earned his CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation and regularly taught finance courses, especially during the early years when the curriculum and planning for the initiation of the finance department was being developed. He retired with Emeritus status.
Ken was a long time cabin owner at Union Lake in Minnesota where he regularly hosted business faculty from the management department during this teaching years at UND. He was a great friend who stayed in contact with retired colleagues as well as former students from across the U.S. and also those who are still working at UND or stayed in the Grand Forks area.
He spent the next 16 years as a volunteer tax preparer for AARP. Ken married Maxine O’Connor in Evanston, Ill. on Nov. 19, 1960. They were blessed with three sons, Frederick (Julie) of Maricopa, Az.,; Daniel of Grand Forks; and William (Michelle) of Fosston, Minn.; and five grandchildren: Alexander, Adia, Bret, Joshua and Jennifer. He has one sister, Joanne (William) Webb of North Branch, Mich. He was preceded in death by his parents.
