Kenneth Robert Dolson was born September 1, 1940 in Hammond, IN. He was the first-born son of Robert J. and Alice M. Dolson and raised in Griffith, IN. As the eldest of six children, he was very close to his siblings.

In his younger years, Ken was extremely athletic and excelled in baseball. He was a catcher in high school. He also enjoyed participating in drama and acted in plays on the high school stage. He once played a Roman gladiator in a play that his younger brother, Richard (“Dick”), fondly recalls to this day. As Dick tells it: “With his wooden sword on stage, he was remembered declaring ‘Ave Imperator Morituri te salutant: Hail Emperor, we who are about to die, salute you.’”

In his spare time, Ken was also an active member of the Catholic Youth Organization and an altar boy. Ken graduated from Griffith High School in 1958.

Ken would receive his congressional appointment to the Academy with the Class of 1962 from the Honorable Ray J. Madden of the 1st District of Indiana. Ken enjoyed his four years at the U.S. Military Academy and was an excellent student. As his classmates might also remember, he enjoyed membership and participated in the Catholic Choir as well as the Camera and Bridge clubs.

In 1962, following the commencement speech from President John F. Kennedy, Ken and his classmates proudly walked across the stage and received their diplomas. He would ultimately become an Air Defense Artillery officer.

Shortly after his graduation, Ken married Lori Di Pasquale, and they would go on to have four children together, but eventually divorced.

Looking back, Ken always appreciated his military experiences and travels around the world. As with all graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, there were many moves, both foreign and domestic. Those experiences seemed to enrich his life. He remembered those assignments fondly.

Ken was always a proud member of the U.S. military and served with distinction to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Like many of his fellow classmates, he was a Vietnam veteran. He also served two “hardship” tours to South Korea.

His first assignment following graduation was to Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan. He then relocated the family for his next assignment to Kaiserslautern, Germany. Upon completion of his Germany assignment in 1967, Ken moved his family back to Indiana, where he then deployed to Vietnam.

After his return from Vietnam, he was assigned to Fort Bliss, TX, the first of three assignments to the post during the course of his career. He took on new responsibilities with the Nike Hercules program while there. He continued his career at Fort Leavenworth, KS, then Fort Bliss again, next Korea, and finally, in 1974, to the Pentagon. He spent a number of years there, including a second deployment to Korea.

He later went on to command the 1st Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery (again assigned to Fort Bliss). Finally, he would close out his military career at the Chidlaw Building, U.S. Space Command, in Colorado Springs, CO.

Ken was a “lifelong learner.” He enjoyed the training the military offered and appreciated the values learned during the process—values such as the importance of education, the “sharpening of the sword,” and of refinement and improvement in all that you do. Further, he went on to earn his master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas, El Paso.

These were values that were important to him. He ensured that he passed those values on to to his children as well.

Ken also believed in service to others. He believed that people should look for opportunities to give back to society because they were members of it. It was one’s duty to do so: another life lesson learned and passed along.

Upon retirement, Ken moved to Fountain, CO and became a defense contractor. During this time, he would meet the love of his life, Nancy Kelly. They were married in December 1986. They shared a special union, and their relationship grew even fonder as the years passed. They were very happy.

As a defense contractor, Ken and Nancy moved around as well. Ultimately, when he decided to retire, they moved to Aurora, CO. They bought a beautiful home and continued to improve on it. They enjoyed working together to make their home a very special place, with family visiting often.

Ken also enjoyed many outside activities throughout his life. He had always been an avid fisherman and later picked up target shooting and big-game hunting, during which he discovered his love for the mountains of Colorado. As his son could attest, he would always catch the biggest fish and was always the best hunter.

As any military family would agree, separation from their siblings and the places where one grows up can be very difficult. Even so, Ken never forgot the value of family. He loved all his siblings deeply, and, in his final years, he became even closer to them, especially with his younger brother, Dick.

Ken passed away January 18, 2021. His ashes were cast on August 19th of the same year in the Colorado mountains, at the base of rocky prominence north of Lake George. He always loved those mountains and it felt appropriate to scatter his ashes there. His wife, Nancy, all his children and their families were in attendance.

Ken is survived by his wife, Nancy Dolson, and children Ken Jr., Lisa, Sherry, Jeff, Jamie, and Terry.

— Kenneth R. Dolson Jr.