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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 from 2-4 & 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held during the evening visiting hours at 8 PM on Wednesday.
U.S. Navy Air Corps veteran, Airship pilot
Kenneth H. Froehner, age 93 of Wayne, died peacefully at home on Saturday, May 2, 2015 with his loving family gathered at his bedside. He had recently moved to Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains.
Ken was born in the small town of West Hoboken, NJ. In 1925, the town merged with Union Hill, NJ and is now known as Union City, NJ. At a young age his family moved to North Bergen. His family owned the local butcher shop and Ken grew up in the family home above the butcher shop. He was very active in Scouting, earning his eagle scout with a bronze palm. His first job as a young teenager was to drive around and collect payments for the Perry Coal Co., which was only slightly more appealing than actually delivering the coal. He soon became an apprentice at the Todd Shipyard in Hoboken where they paid him 35 cents per hour, but the work was grueling. General Electric was hiring apprentice mold makers, so he jumped on that opportunity and moved to Massachusetts. When World War II broke out, Ken and several of his fellow workers at GE decided to all join the Naval Air Corps together and they drove to New York City to take the test. Despite their plan to stick together and serve in the Naval Air Corps, Ken was the only one among them to pass the test, and he shipped off alone! Once in the Navy, he was made a cadet and sent for special training in the Naval Air Corps. Through several different flight schools around the country, including at Lakehurst, NJ, Ken was trained to fly blimps and became a Certified Airship Pilot. If you ever had the chance to talk with Ken about those years, you know how he loved blimps and how enthusiastic he was to share those stories and to tell you blimps were not ridged.
After the war ended, Ken began working for Bendix in Teterboro in an entry level position as a machinist. While working hard to support his young family, he also attended night school at Fairleigh Dickinson where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in engineering. Having his degree gave him the boost he needed to move up to the engineering department and he eventually enjoyed a career spanning twenty five years with Bendix. In 1976 he moved to Singer-Kearfott in Totowa and after nine more years he retired in 1985.
Ken met his wife Anna (nee Temple) at a church group meeting. Their first encounter wasn’t all that promising; Ken saw Anna from across the room and asked a mutual friend if he could meet her. When Anna found out, she went to the ladies room and hid there for the rest of the night! She was only fifteen and the whole idea made her nervous, but she admits that he was very handsome! A couple of years later, and purely by chance, Ken saw Anna through a store front window where she was working as a secretary in a real estate office. Ken went in and spoke to her for a brief time, then invited her to the movies. They began ‘going steady’ and he soon proposed. They married on May 27, 1944 at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Secaucus and, since Ken was still serving in the Navy Air Corps, they enjoyed a very brief (one night) honeymoon at the Hotel New Yorker in Manhattan. Anna fondly recalls how they were upgraded to a suite that night, which cost them a total of $11. They eventually settled in Wayne in 1959 where they lived for thirty years. In 1989, they retired to Greenbriar Woodlands in Toms River, NJ, then in 1999 they moved to Chester, NJ to be nearer to family. Just last year, they moved to Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains.
Ken’s greatest joy has been watching his family grow throughout the years. His own three children have blessed him with seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, the youngest of which was just born a few months ago. Nothing made him happier than being with his family and it was a wonderful blessing to have them all gathered at his home when he passed. They will all miss him dearly. Sadly though, heartache also visited their family when Ken lost his son, Gregg Froehner, on September 11, 2001. Gregg was employed with the Port Authority of NY & NJ and was killed while trying to rescue people from the Trade Center towers on that fateful date. It meant a great deal to Ken and Anna when Wayne Township unveiled the 9/11 memorial near the public library, and with the naming of the Gregg Froehner Memorial Park athletic fields off of Runnymede Drive in Wayne.
Ken is survived by his loving wife of seventy years; Anna of Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains, his son Kenneth A. and his wife Dale of Pompton Lakes, a daughter-in-law; Mary of Oldwick, a daughter; Dorell McNamara and her husband Thomas of Wayne, seven grandchildren; Kimberly, Kenneth W., Meghan, Heather, Matthew, Kyle and Kathleen, and four great-grandchildren; Michaela, Hannah, Kenneth J. and Odin. He was predeceased by his son Gregg in 2001 and by his brother Elmer in 1992.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Kenneth’s memory to Popcorn Park Zoo Associated Humane Societies, 1 Humane Way, Forked River, NJ 08731 (phone 609 693-1900) or Atlantic Home Care & Hospice, 465 South Street, Suite 100, Morristown, NJ 07960 (phone 973 379-8440).
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 from 2-4 & 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held during the evening visiting hours at 8 PM on Wednesday.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 from 2-4 & 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will be held during the evening visiting hours at 8 PM on Wednesday.
U.S. Navy Air Corps veteran, Airship pilot
Kenneth H. Froehner, age 93 of Wayne, died peacefully at home on Saturday, May 2, 2015 with his loving family gathered at his bedside. He had recently moved to Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains.
Ken was born in the small town of West Hoboken, NJ. In 1925, the town merged with Union Hill, NJ and is now known as Union City, NJ. At a young age his family moved to North Bergen. His family owned the local butcher shop and Ken grew up in the family home above the butcher shop. He was very active in Scouting, earning his eagle scout with a bronze palm. His first job as a young teenager was to drive around and collect payments for the Perry Coal Co., which was only slightly more appealing than actually delivering the coal. He soon became an apprentice at the Todd Shipyard in Hoboken where they paid him 35 cents per hour, but the work was grueling. General Electric was hiring apprentice mold makers, so he jumped on that opportunity and moved to Massachusetts. When World War II broke out, Ken and several of his fellow workers at GE decided to all join the Naval Air Corps together and they drove to New York City to take the test. Despite their plan to stick together and serve in the Naval Air Corps, Ken was the only one among them to pass the test, and he shipped off alone! Once in the Navy, he was made a cadet and sent for special training in the Naval Air Corps. Through several different flight schools around the country, including at Lakehurst, NJ, Ken was trained to fly blimps and became a Certified Airship Pilot. If you ever had the chance to talk with Ken about those years, you know how he loved blimps and how enthusiastic he was to share those stories and to tell you blimps were not ridged.
After the war ended, Ken began working for Bendix in Teterboro in an entry level position as a machinist. While working hard to support his young family, he also attended night school at Fairleigh Dickinson where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in engineering. Having his degree gave him the boost he needed to move up to the engineering department and he eventually enjoyed a career spanning twenty five years with Bendix. In 1976 he moved to Singer-Kearfott in Totowa and after nine more years he retired in 1985.
Ken met his wife Anna (nee Temple) at a church group meeting. Their first encounter wasn’t all that promising; Ken saw Anna from across the room and asked a mutual friend if he could meet her. When Anna found out, she went to the ladies room and hid there for the rest of the night! She was only fifteen and the whole idea made her nervous, but she admits that he was very handsome! A couple of years later, and purely by chance, Ken saw Anna through a store front window where she was working as a secretary in a real estate office. Ken went in and spoke to her for a brief time, then invited her to the movies. They began ‘going steady’ and he soon proposed. They married on May 27, 1944 at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Secaucus and, since Ken was still serving in the Navy Air Corps, they enjoyed a very brief (one night) honeymoon at the Hotel New Yorker in Manhattan. Anna fondly recalls how they were upgraded to a suite that night, which cost them a total of $11. They eventually settled in Wayne in 1959 where they lived for thirty years. In 1989, they retired to Greenbriar Woodlands in Toms River, NJ, then in 1999 they moved to Chester, NJ to be nearer to family. Just last year, they moved to Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains.
Ken’s greatest joy has been watching his family grow throughout the years. His own three children have blessed him with seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, the youngest of which was just born a few months ago. Nothing made him happier than being with his family and it was a wonderful blessing to have them all gathered at his home when he passed. They will all miss him dearly. Sadly though, heartache also visited their family when Ken lost his son, Gregg Froehner, on September 11, 2001. Gregg was employed with the Port Authority of NY & NJ and was killed while trying to rescue people from the Trade Center towers on that fateful date. It meant a great deal to Ken and Anna when Wayne Township unveiled the 9/11 memorial near the public library, and with the naming of the Gregg Froehner Memorial Park athletic fields off of Runnymede Drive in Wayne.
Ken is survived by his loving wife of seventy years; Anna of Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains, his son Kenneth A. and his wife Dale of Pompton Lakes, a daughter-in-law; Mary of Oldwick, a daughter; Dorell McNamara and her husband Thomas of Wayne, seven grandchildren; Kimberly, Kenneth W., Meghan, Heather, Matthew, Kyle and Kathleen, and four great-grandchildren; Michaela, Hannah, Kenneth J. and Odin. He was predeceased by his son Gregg in 2001 and by his brother Elmer in 1992.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Kenneth’s memory to Popcorn Park Zoo Associated Humane Societies, 1 Humane Way, Forked River, NJ 08731 (phone 609 693-1900) or Atlantic Home Care & Hospice, 465 South Street, Suite 100, Morristown, NJ 07960 (phone 973 379-8440).
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