Kendall Leroy Mulkey

Kendall L. Mulkey, born August 26, 1936, passed at the age of 77, of pancreatic cancer at Nathan Adelson Hospice, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 1, 2014. Kendall was born on the homestead of his great grandfather, two miles north of Selma, Kansas, on August 26, 1936. When Kendall was approximately four, the family moved to Venice and later to Santa Monica, California, where his father was employed at Douglas Aircraft. They later lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During his later childhood, the family moved back to Blue Mound, Kansas where Kendall's grandfather owned a produce house. His father worked with his grandfather until his grandfather passed away and his father kept the produce house; where Kendall worked after school and during summer. Kendall always played parts in the school play's that were held in the Blue Mound High School Auditorium. He graduated from high school in May, 1955. During his teen years, he became an avid quail hunter, getting pleasure from hunting with his father, grandfather, uncle, cousin and sometimes friends. That was one thing he missed very much after getting married. Joining the Air Force took us too far away for him to be at home in Blue Mound during quail season. Kendall was a member of the boy scouts where he earned Eagle Scout. On July 1, 1956, he and his father were licensed as Amateur Radio Operators, his call sign being W0VPH and his father's W0VPG. Linda now has her grandfather's call sign although she is not an active participant. Kendall and Nadine were united in marriage on December 16, 1956. The wedding was performed by one of Ken's friends. In fact, the first night of our honeymoon was spent at their home because we went there to tease him about not pronouncing us man and wife. It was too late by that time to go anywhere so we didn't leave until the following day. The honeymoon was very inexpensive when measured against today's prices. In fact, all the cash we had on hand was $105.68. We did not have plans for our trip which was a road trip and we eventually wound up in Shreveport, Louisiana. We were gone for four days, drove 1200 miles and total expenses were $60.43 including replacing the left wheel bearing and having to be towed into Stillwell, Oklahoma to have the wheel bearing replaced. Of course, we had to spend the night there at the J.L. Cox hotel. There were four double beds in the room. We couldn't make up our minds which two beds to use so we both slept in the same bed. In Shreveport, Kendall was going to be issued a ticket for failing to stop at a red light until he told the officer that we were on our honeymoon and that the Christmas decorations were actually blocking the red light from sight. The officer was very nice and directed us to the nearest good motel. Ken and Nadine made their home in Eudora, Kansas where Ken was employed as an electrician for the City of Eudora. Nadine worked at an insurance company in Kansas City, Missouri; commuted back and forth sharing rides with others working in the city. After working in Eudora, Kansas, Ken transferred to a similar job in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, where Nadine still had to commute. That lead eventually to enlisting in the Air Force where he spent eight years and earned the rank of Tech Sgt. We had bought a 1957 two door sport model Chevrolet, our first new car, and later bought a 1959 Chevrolet. In fact, Ken came home for lunch one day and the base commander followed him home inquiring where he got the car. The commander thought that he might have stolen the car since he was very young and of low rank at the time. We were able to convince him that the car was really ours. While in the Air Force, we were stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, North Carolina; Eglin AFB at Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; and back to Seymour Johnson AFB where he deployed to Vietnam for a total of 18 months with three, six month tours of duty. Before he left he was sent to Texas for some training for the job he would be doing. Holiday Inn, where he stayed with his family, gave him and Capt. Kersey a nice send off with their names on the marquee. During his eight years of service, he earned several awards for various things, some of them monetary awards for ideas. At one time during Kendall's Air Force career, we went to a promotion party at the NCO Club on Seymour Johnson AFB where Ken participated in a "Limbo" contest where he won second place. Ken successfully completed College Level GED; Comp 1-63; NCO Prep School; TAC; Comp 1-62; OJT Trainer 75000-18 & Aircraft Radio Maintenance. Kendall is survived by Nola Nadine Mulkey, wife of 57 years; daughter, Linda Isham (Wayne) of Louisville, Kentucky; son, Jeffrey Mulkey of Las Vegas and numerous nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ansel (Pete) and Darline Mulkey; and sister, Sandra West. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel, Garnett. Burial to follow in the Garnett Cemetery. The family will greet friends on Tuesday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. You may send your condolences to the family at our website at www.feuerbornfuneral.com .