KENNETH (KEN) L. STOTT, JR.
Ken and Nancy Denkhaus met in Mr. Epley’s biology class. Working with lab partners Rocco Varacalli and Carolyn Vincent, we were dissecting a frog to determine its sex. We got it wrong. Nancy and I began dating in the spring of 1954 and then married in June 1959. We went on to have five children—Ken III (1960), Karen (1961), Edward (1963), Nancy E. (1965), and, after a breather, Susan (1970). Is there any relationship to the frog story? We do not plan on having any more children! Presently we have 11 grandchildren with the possibility that number could still go up. Their ages range from 18 months to 20 years, with the eldest a sophomore in college. Could great-grandchildren be too many years away? When we all get together, there are 23 of us.
After graduating from LAHS, my education included:
* BSEE from Drexel University – 1961
* MSEE from Stevens Institute of Technology – 1964
* MSIE from Lehigh University – 1966
* Ph.D. from Lehigh University – 1971
* Registered Professional Engineer – 1972
My education and our making babies stopped in 1971. Nancy and I finally figured it out—about time for a nurse and an engineer.
My early work experience included two years as a Drexel co-op at General Electric in the missile/space vehicle division. One highlight was that I participated in the analysis of the first re-entry vehicle that was recovered from space. The missile had been fired down-range from Cape Canaveral.
After graduating from Drexel, I began my career at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Whippany, NJ, (1961–1964) where I worked on anti-submarine warfare systems. We moved on to Western Electric’s Engineering Research Center in Princeton, NJ, (1964–1966), where I worked on production management and operations research projects, in addition to being in an on-site Master’s program with Lehigh University. In 1966 we moved to the Lehigh Valley, and I worked for a short time at Western Electric’s Allentown Works. I then went with Bethlehem Steel’s Homer Research Laboratories (1967–2000) in Bethlehem, PA. I was Supervisor of the Systems Analysis Group, a very diverse and bright group of engineers, mathematicians, and computer and programming specialists that built production scheduling and operations research systems.
While at Bethlehem Steel, I was an Adjunct Professor at Lehigh University for 16 years, teaching graduate courses in Management Science/Operations Research in the MBA program. Additionally, I taught Applied Regression Analysis in the Department of Industrial Engineering.
After retiring in 2000, I went back to class to become a tax preparer. This is my sixth year preparing taxes for H&R Block. Working with the public has been a totally new experience and sometimes "taxing" for me. The experiences have been mostly good and very, very interesting.
The child rearing years were busy ones, and for me included Little League coaching and umpiring, scouting, and attending many school activities and sporting events. Attending the elementary school’s annual art show for 14 consecutive years should have earned us a ribbon. On vacations we enjoyed the beaches of Ocean City, NJ, and traveled in this country, making two western trips during which we were tent camping along the way.
Nancy and I have always enjoyed traveling. We have traveled a great deal in this country, including Hawaii and Alaska, as well as to Australia, New Zealand, much of Europe, and some of South America. We are bikers (the kind you peddle) and ride for fun and exercise. In the US we usually ride rail trails and/or canal towpaths. We have biked in Holland (easy), Lake Konstance–Germany, Switzerland, & Austria (still easy), the Austrian Alps (moderate), and the Tatra mountain range separating Poland and Slovakia (harder). We do about 30 to 45 miles each day, stay in B&B’s, meet a lot of people, and eat very well. We tend to travel on our own wherever possible so we have fun dealing with the language issues, particularly when traveling off the beaten path and staying in people’s homes.
Visiting our family gives us many opportunities (excuses) to travel. This has been in the states until three years ago when our eldest daughter Karen and her family moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now we have had the chance to travel in South America with them as we visit. This February, after visiting Karen, we will cruise from Rio to Santiago, Chile. They have lived in Baton Rouge and Houston, but we do not know where they will be after this summer. Our daughter Nancy and family have lived in Tucson and Minneapolis and now live in Huntington Beach, CA. Our eldest son Ken and family live in Damascus, Maryland. Two children and their families live in this area: Susan in Gilbertsville and Ed in Tamaqua. We do all manage to get together fairly regularly, generally at beach areas. The current favorite is Ocean City, NJ. This year, 2006, it will be from July 8th–15th. The Ocean City tradition must be attributed to our suburban-Philadelphia upbringing. We took our children there with their grandparents, and now, by consensus, our children and grandchildren want to go to Ocean City.
Nancy and I are in our 4th year of a major volunteer activity, restoring a historic church cemetery that dates back to 1756. It is hard, but rewarding, work. Nancy is the Chairperson of the committee so refer to her bio for details. Other activities include volunteer taxes for AARP, Meals–On–Wheels, Lions Club, and church activities.
We live close enough to New York City to be able to enjoy going there for concerts, operas, and Broadway shows.
We are looking forward to this reunion. Were it not for the Lansdowne and Aldan merger (I had planned to go to Upper Darby.), life would have been very different.
Ken & Nancy Stott 610.767.5642 nandk@ptd.net