Kenneth Arbuckle

Kenneth Arbuckle, age 87 of Wayne, died on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.

Ken was the middle child of three boys born January 3, 1938, to Betty and Harold Arbuckle in Brooklyn New York. The Brooklyn part was something he always took great pride in! When he was growing up, he often felt he was being called to become a priest someday.  He joked that he went out the window when his older brother Walter fell in love with Joanne MacIsaac, who was often followed on get togethers by her younger sister Dorothy, as well as Walter being tagged along by his younger brother Ken.  He said it was love at first sight for him when he met Dorothy and he would have to find other ways to serve the Lord.

Dorothy and Ken married and moved to beautiful Packanack Lake and started a family. They were blessed with two daughters, Christine and Pamela, but unfortunately soon after Dorothy was struck with breast cancer and passed away in 1973. Unbelievably his younger brother Jon was involved in a car accident going to see Dorothy in the hospital right before she died and was killed. That same month his beloved grandmother Louise, whom he lived in the same building with growing up, died suddenly that month as well. Needless to say, Ken was devastated but found so much strength in God and leaned in hard for God’s love to get him through and did not waiver from his strong faith. He was forever grateful to God for getting him through such tough times. He was often told that people got through extreme hard times in their life by using him as an example for them to follow.

God was very good to him and brought great happiness to his life again. He would enjoy wonderful family vacations, holidays, and gatherings with Walter and Joanne and their five daughters along with his two girls at annual LBI vacations together. Seven little girls in a little Cape Cod at the beach were some of the best times of his life. He was very close to his parents and enjoyed many weekends with them while he was getting his strength back. With God’s grace, in 1978, he met the second love of his life, Mary Copeland along with his two bonus children Matthew and Melissa. Ken and Mary soon married in 1979 and went on to have a son together, Peter. Ken and Mary worked very hard together to operate a successful family business, Sentry Water Treatment, which filled him with so much pride. Together Ken and Mary dedicated their time to the catholic faith and taught people who chose to become Catholic through the RCIA program which gave them so much joy. They were always there to help in any way they were called upon to help their parish they loved, Our Lady of Consolation’s church, which had become a family to them. Unfortunately, Mary passed away in 2013 of pancreatic cancer and not long after Ken was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

We will all miss Ken’s presence, his five children, his two grandchildren, Ryan and Alyssa Folkertsma, and the many people his light touched in his lifetime. We take great comfort in knowing that he’s no longer struggling with dementia and enjoying eternal joy and glory with the Lord, surrounded with his loved ones who had passed before him.