Dec. 12 1948 – Feb. 13, 2023
Kenneth Lee Stromquist was born on December 12, 1948 at the McPherson County Hospital, McPherson, Kansas, at 6:00 p.m. He was the only child of Leslie Luther Stromquist (February 16, 1913 – November 22, 1983) and Loreece Josephine Lorenz Stromquist (August 12, 1921 – May 30, 1998).
Leslie was a farmer and had a machine shop on the property, plus he served in the Army. Loreece was the last school teacher in the last One Room School House in McPherson County, Kansas, but quit teaching when he was born so she could devote her entire time to raising and educating him. Ken was reading at the age of two years. He read all of the books in his parent’s library. He even tried to figure out the German and Swedish volumes! Loreece taught her son so well that when he started school he was years ahead of his classmates in all academic areas. Ken was bored with classes and read virtually all the books in the two grade school libraries. He would hurry up and finish his homework so that he could find another book to read.
After he completed reading all the books in the two Peaceful Prairie School libraries, he read all the books in the McPherson County School Superintendent’s Library. Unfortunately, his classmates were jealous of his knowledge and abilities. They called him names such as egg head. However, Ken still enjoyed reading. Ken kept pestering his parents to take him to the McPherson City Library so that he could find something new to read. Needless to say, Ken’s favorite place was a library. He loved to read and do research. His term papers and research were always among the best in his classes and he consistently received high marks on them.
This continued with him throughout his life and resulted in him developing his own private library in his home basement which was filled with thousands of books. Many were first editions that he had collected.
Ken attended McPherson High School where he excelled and was the Yearbook Editor. He was an honor graduate and attended McPherson College on a Merit scholarship. In 1967 he was elected Master Councilor of the North Central area of the Kansas State DeMolay association. This is a fraternal organization for youths between 14 and 21. He stayed in touch with them throughout his life. He collected DeMolay memorabilia and was writing a book about the DeMolay when he passed February 13, 2023.
He was a member in good standing in Free Masons, International Order of DeMolay, Past Grand Commander of the Kansas Grand Court of Chevaliers, Sons of the American Legion, Knights of Pythias, and the Last Life Member of the McPherson County Historical Society. He included Kansas City BBQ Judge to his outstanding achievements. He was also a lifetime member of the New Gottland Evangelical Lutheran Church in McPherson, KS, a charter member of the US Internet Genealogical Society and a member of the International Genealogical Society. Ken started and operated the Stromquist Genealogical Society where he focused on Laubach, Lorenz, Stromquist and other members associated with his family from Germany and Switzerland.
Ken loved to learn and research anything he could. His favorite pastime was attending workshops and seminars on various subjects from Real Estate to Coins and Metals or Photography. He was almost a fulltime volunteer at many events in and around the Kansas City area. He was an avid collector of Presidential items, and loved a good auction.
Ken’s Father was Swedish, Mother was German, he never married, nor had children. He always said he was waiting for the right Swedish girl. Ken really enjoyed coming back to the Stromquist home farm in McPherson, Kansas, to visit his Mother before he moved her to Kansas City to help care for her.
He worked at the Post Office in the 1980 timeframe until his health caused him to take a disability leave. He lived mostly in the Platte County, Missouri area until his health failed and he moved to Riverside Missouri Nursing Home in 2018 where he stayed until he passed.
Ken was an adoring son, loved cats, always interested in sharing stories, and enjoyed visiting with his neighbors.
